Transformers Prime The Gifted
by Lil-prime9
Summary: Living in Jasper Nevada, life seemed normal—or so she thought. Until a curious encounter with a semi-truck and from that day on, things have changed drastically. But there are certain things she doesn't openly talk about and is kept hidden from the others. This secret will eventually resurface and she needs to cope with it and make an immense decision to let go of her past.
1. One: A New Friend

A middle-aged brunette with straight neck length hair was staring intently at one of the papers in her hands. There were stacks of papers around her desk, all neatly organized to the side. She adjusted her glasses which had a barely noticeable crack on the right lenses but this small damage wasn't too distracting. If she could read, then they are still in good use.

A soft knock had caught her attention as eyes landed on the door. "Come in." Then the door swung open revealing a female worker.

The woman sets down her papers on the desk and then grabs a book to her left before walking over to her. "Can you deliver this book to a young boy, dear?"

She takes the book from the woman's hands. "Of course, um, where is he?"

"He's in one of the private study rooms, Dear," she added before the girl nodded and walks out of the room.

The girl made her way down the stairs, making her way straight towards the private study rooms. She stops, and to her right was a hall with four rooms and there were signs right above the glass door. Only one room emitted light, she approached the door and raised her gaze—the sign read: No. 3. Her gaze moves down, through the door was a young boy, scribbling down notes on his notebook and his laptop to his left.

What really caught her attention was his unnatural spiky hair.

A smile crept its way on to her face before opening the door. Almost immediately, a rush of cold air greeted her cheekbones, but this didn't faze her. Her presence hasn't been acknowledged, so she proceeds to knock on to the door and his head shot up to meet her gaze.

"Sorry to interrupt, but I just came to drop by and give you a book." She then approaches the table and places the book down, and she smiles apologetically. "Again, I'm sorry for interrupting."

He shakes his head. "N-no, that's alright." he nervously eyes around the room before his eyes briefly meet hers. "You sound different... no! Wait I mean-"

She couldn't help but burst out into a fit of giggles while he stuttered with his words, and his whole face turned red from embarrassment. "I know what you're trying to say, and the answer is yes. I'm not from here, in fact, I'm actually from Europe."

The boy's eyes stared at her in awe. "Wow, really?"

She hums in approval as she pulls a chair over, sits down, and then rests her arms on the table. "The differences in the way I speak are the ways I pronounce certain words differently." and she went on, showing him some examples.

It might have been a couple of minutes of her rambling but enough to make him feel more comfortable around. He had warmed up to her quickly and began to chime in confidently. Eventually, it was time for him to leave for the day and she accompanied him outside.

She hands over to him the book and he had a puzzled look before explaining that he has to return it in three weeks. His eyes lit up and thanked her before he walks down the many steps and hops into the black and yellow muscle car, but not before waving at her to which she returned the same gesture.

-x-

She had lost track of time while running errands that it was almost time for her to head to work and she was now at a hurried pace, speeding past bystanders at the sidewalk. Her home wasn't too far from the library, in fact; it was a couple of blocks away. As the school building came into view, she made sure to look both ways before crossing the streets and continued with her journey. However, passing by a tree she abruptly stopped in her tracks to hear a commotion to her left.

"What's the matter, hm? Waiting for your mommy to pick you up?" a male teen with bright red hair said mockingly whilst a group of other teens behind him began to snicker.

"Leave me alone, Vince," a familiar boy with spiky brown hair said as he clutched his books tightly onto his chest. He looked uncomfortable with the presence of the older teen in front of him.

Suddenly, the teen, Vince, reaches down to grab the collar of the boy's shirt and yanks him closer to him causing him to lose grip onto the books, which ultimately fell onto the ground. Vince was now staring directly at him with an irritated gaze, and this look intimidated the younger boy.

"You think being tough makes you feel special? Wrong." Vince declared and with his free hand, he was about to show the boy who was the toughest around.

Yet he didn't get to do so, because he was held back by someone. Confused, he looked over to his left and raised his gaze to see a girl standing right there, holding his wrist which prevented him to hit the boy he was still holding.

"He asked you to leave him alone. Now, I'll ask you once, let him go," she demands.

Vince scoffs and a smirk spreads on his lips. "Or what... cutie? You gonna mace me-"

He didn't get the chance to finish his sentence when she suddenly twisted his arm making him yell out from the pain. His grip loosens from the boy's shirt collar, setting him loose. Her grip from his arm didn't move and whenever he attempted to move away, she would twist it further, causing him to whimper and go down on his knees. When his cries were enough, she sets him free from her grasp and almost immediately he scrambles up to his feet and flees the scene with his group of friends.

She turns to look at the boy with his head hanging from shame. "Hey, you ok?" she asks whilst kneeling to his level.

He raises his head to meet her gaze with a nervous smile. "Yeah... I'm fine."

She shakes her head in understatement as she picks up the book from the ground. He reaches down to help with her, but she stops him. "Don't worry, Raf. I got you covered," she reassures him before standing up.

"You know, I've had my fair share of ungrateful people throughout my life and most of them aren't nearly as bad as this one." her eyes lands on him. "He has no rights to pick on anyone or even lay a finger on them."

She places her hand on his shoulder and then smiles. "But the most important is that you didn't get hurt or else things could've escalated for the worse."

"Yeah." he agreed with a sigh of relief.

"Come on, why don't you accompany me to the library and what for your parents to pick you up, hm?" she didn't have to wait for a long reply and he immediately was ready to go.

As they both walked side by side, everything felt completely fine when a normal semi-truck was passing driving by. For some reason, there was this strange sensation that washed over her. It was extremely odd. She had her hand hovering over her chest and had turned her head around to catch a glimpse of the semi-truck before it took a turn and disappeared.

"Lucy, you ok?" he asks while tilting his head to look up at her.

Her head turns and looks down at him. "Yeah, I'm alright. Just thought I saw something familiar." she lied and puts up a reassuring smile.

They arrived at the library and head inside; a rush of cold air greeted them immediately as they made their way towards a square-shaped table to the left. Lucy places the books on the table before she takes a seat which Raf had followed suit on the opposite side.

Raf couldn't help but notice something shiny around her neck, eyeing it with curiosity. "What's that?"

She blinks and follows his stare down to her chest. "This?" Her hand then removes something from underneath her clothing and revealed a necklace. The chains were made from silver and it had an orb like-shape; its shades can be described as the galaxy, a mixture of hues such as cyan, aquamarine, sapphire and a hint of violet.

"It's a necklace that my mum gave to me when I young." she stares at the necklace, silently admiring the craftsmanship it was put into it. "It's a special item that has been passed down from generations in my family. It once belonged to my mom's grandmother, my mum, my sister, and now to me."

"Wow. That's something you don't hear every day!" Raf said in pure awe. "Does your family live nearby?"

The look in her eyes changed drastically and there was a look of sadness. She refrained from looking directly at him and instead kept her eyes glued on to the necklace she held with her fingers.

"No. They live in Europe...uhm, London; they live there." She raises her gaze to meet his and smiles. "They inspired me to become what I am today. I'm grateful for that."

"Do you miss being with them?" Raf asks.

"A lot." was all she said before hiding the necklace back underneath the sweater she wore.

Then Rafael's phone begun to vibrate from his pockets with the music blaring at full volume. He fumbled to get his phone and at one point almost dropping, and he successfully answered the phone.

"Hello?" he said in a hushed tone.

On the other end of the line was his friend from high school asking where he was. "Jack? Uh huh – At the library with Lucy."

" _Who?"_

"Oh... she's a friend. I wasn't at school because something happened but don't worry! Everything's fine now." Rafael lets out a small chuckle.

 _"What happened?"_

"Uh... look I'll tell you later, ok?" with that he hung up the phone with a sigh. "Sorry. It was a friend of mine."

Lucy shook her head in understanding. "That's okay, Raf. Although, next time try and have your phone on vibrate alright?" she teasingly said which caused his face to redden from embarrassment.

Then there was a loud honk coming from outside, so she stood up from the chair and approaches the door to see who it was. It was the muscle car and whoever was at the wheel was waiting patiently for Rafael.

"Lucy."

She looks down and next to her was Rafael staring directly at her.

"Thank you for defending me from Vince," he said.

"You're welcome. If he ever decides to bother you again don't be afraid to tell me, plus, I can teach you some helpful tips to make him regret ever bothering you again," she said with a wink.

"I'll keep that in mind for next time!" Raf said before exiting through the doors and hopping inside the car.

-x-

The hours had passed since Rafael had told them about the ordeal. Those who overheard the conversation were absolutely horrified. Yet, he reassured them that nothing escalated further if it weren't for Lucy's interference. After he finished telling his day, the rest went on with their day, but a certain Japanese teen wouldn't let the topic die.

"How are do you think she would punch – You think she's an agent in disguise – Maybe she's some sort of superhuman!" she rambled on enthusiastically.

"Uh..." Rafael didn't know what to say as she continued.

"How long have you known her?" she blurted out.

Rafael blinks. "Three months...?"

She folds her arms with a raised eyebrow. "Three months and you still haven't asked her out on a date?"

"No! She's way older than me, Miko." Rafael's clarified with a reddened face.

She then bursts out in a fit of laughter. "I'm just messing with you!"

The sounds of an engine echoing throughout the room can be heard; a truck appears through the tunnel and then stops in the middle of the room before transforming. A large sentient being now stood there and he's well-known to be the leader of the Autobot's; Optimus Prime. Before he could take a step, the children's conversation had caught his audio-receptors.

"Tell us everything about her Raf!" She exclaimed excitingly.

Rafael adjusts himself comfortably on the couch. "Um... she does work at the library nearby."

She leans closer. "... and?"

"That's pretty much it," Rafael said, much to Miko's disappointment.

Optimus discreetly walks over to the monitors of the med bay and seemingly acts to check on something whilst still listening to their conversation.

"I'd like to meet her personally just to thank her for handling Vince," Jack admitted as he now slouched forward on the armchair, his arms resting on his legs and Miko shakes her head in agreement.

Then their conversation steers away from the girl they were mentioning and were now engaging themselves with the video game console. He was beyond curious after their conversation had ended and was beginning to wonder about this girl they were referring. Optimus secretly hoped that she wasn't involved. The last thing he'd need was another human to be a part of their war and be a potential target for their enemies to use against them.

* * *

 _UPDATED: Rewritten on 2/09/2019_


	2. Two: Unexpected Meeting

_.".".".".". A week Later ."."."."."._

The sun peeked through the horizon, a cold breeze swept across her face. Lucy had woken up early to watch the sunrise, it's orange colors greeted the skies that were accompanied by a warm rose pink. She smiled at the scene through her bedroom window, it opened outwards as she greeted the rays of the sun with her slightly pale skin along with her freckles. Closing the windows, Lucy exited her room and made her way down the stairs. She slipped on a cyan color converse while on opposite side of her hands: she held her house keys and her phone. The rest of her clothing were over the knee light blue pants, with a medium sized cyan colored sweater, and underneath was a white-collar shirt that is stitched together with the sweater.

Exiting her home, she strolled down the sidewalk and noticed a familiar figure from afar. It was Raf, waiting on the other side of the road for the sign to turn green for him to be able to cross. As the boy made it to the other side she walked up to him and greeted him, "Good morning Raf."

His face transformed into a kind of joy that she will never forget. Raf gave her a quick hug, and in response, she patted his spiky hair gently, "Lucy! Morning to you too.", he chimed, cheerfully. She giggled at the cute sight before her, "How has school been treating you lately? Anything new happening?", the boy simply shook his head as they walked beside each other.

Lucy accompanied Raf in front of the school entrance, where he sped up the stairs. He abruptly stopped mid-step, swiftly turning around as he now faced her. "Thank you for your company, Lucy.", she smiled warmly at him, "You're most welcome, Raf.", with that, the boy left leaving a content looking girl behind. _'I'm glad we both meet.'_

As she was about to turn around, the girl accidently bumped into someone. Their books fell onto the floor, papers scattered across the pavement. Lucy covered her mouth with both hands, gasping softly at the mess she made, "Oh! I'm sorry! I should have been more careful on where I go.", the brown haired teens gaze landed onto her, a sincere smile appearing on his lips, "Hey, don't worry about it. Accidents happen."

She shook her head as she kneeled down to the floor, gathering up the fallen papers, "Nonsense! I should have been more attentive to where I was going.", once the items had been gathered she stood up, handing it over to the teen. She lowered her head apologetically with her hands clasped against the other onto her chest. "I'm truly sorry for my clumsiness."

He simply smiled, kindly. "Don't sweat it. Besides, we all have our imperfect moments.", Lucy's expression softens releasing a sigh. "Say, do you attend school here? I never saw you before.", he asked curiosity filled his voice.

She blinked before shaking her head. "No. I graduated high school long ago.", Lucy outstretched her right hand to the boy, "My name is Lucy. Pleasure to meet you!", he gladly accepted her hand, shaking it. "Jack. Jack Darby, it's nice to meet you, Lucy.", he raised his brow as he proceeded to ask her something, "Hey, aren't you Raf's friend?"

"I am. You are one of his friend too right? You must've been the one calling him from time to time when he was with me.", Lucy pulled a strand of hair that hung around her neck, as she moved it over her ear. He nodded in response, "You were the one who defended him from Vince.", her eyes widen slightly, _'Raf must have told him.'_ , She nodded, "Yes. That boy won't be snooping around for quite awhile now."

Jack exhaled with relief, "Thank you for protecting him.". Lucy waved her hand back and forth, "He is my friend. I simply couldn't bare to witness him getting hurt by a person who's ego is certainly questionable.", she clasped her hands in front of her chest. "I must go now. It was good to meet you, Jack. Take care.". Lucy bid her farewells, waving at the teen before departing.

Jack sighed deeply, rubbing the back of his neck. The silence was interrupted by a female voice emanating from the teen's motorcycle, "She was nice.". The Autobot named, Arcee, spoke in her vehicle mode observing at her partner, who was staring off into the distance. The boy became flustered as his cheeks redden, although Arcee couldn't distinguish if it was from embarrassment or simply being attracted to the girl. She may never know.

"Y-yeah, well, people like her are always nice.", he stuttered his words, though his eyes kept from glancing at the bike who's rearview mirror was staring at him. "Not all people like her are that nice Jack." The female pointed out which earned a slight groan from the teen. "Your point, Arcee?", Jack's eyes landed onto the bike next to him.

"My point is that she was kind enough to pick your things from the floor and apologize repeatedly." Jack chuckled softly with a smile upon his lips. "Yeah… your right.", "The girl is well mannered, unlike Sierra.". This caused Jack to blush a pink hue across his cheeks. "Com'on. Sierra is… nice.", "Keep on dreaming Jack.". The teen turned around, his back facing the bike. "Well, I'll see you after school."

Jack walked away from Arcee as he entered the school doors. The teen made his way through the halls and stood in front of his locker, placing his textbooks inside. He sighed once more, before closing the locker, "This is going to be a long day."

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A young boy skidded across the grassy field, as he chased around to tag his parents. He squealed with delight, as he caught his father and tackled him to the floor. The mother walked over to them and laughed at them cheerfully. Lucy had been quietly watching the scene from afar on a wooden bench. A smile spread across her lips as she sighed to herself. Her eyes drifted off into the sky above her. Peacefully enjoying the afternoon as a cool breeze swept throughout the park. The leaves rustled loudly before slowly dying.

 _'I wish you could see this. It could be like before now, wouldn't it?... I miss you all… '_ , her thoughts had lingered upon the last sentence, frowning slightly. She misses them dearly. If only she could see them one last time, but it is impossible. They were gone, and she was still here. She was happy. Lucy knew she was never alone in this world. Indeed, she had worked hard to get where she is currently at, but that does not fill in the emptiness inside her heart. It will always leave an aching feeling that will linger on.

Her ears overheard a soft hum of an engine running that emanated from behind. Turning her head slightly, so she could glance at the red and blue semi truck that parked itself near her. The truck's engine died down and the semi stood there motionless. Curiously, she stood up from the bench and walked over towards the truck. Standing next to the passenger door, as her eyes studied every detail about it. Her eyes shifted towards an imprint of a strange looking symbol. Once again her curiosity got the best of her and began to trace a barely noticeable mark with her delicate fingers.

To her astonishment, the truck shivered from her caressing the symbol. Her eyes fluttered, and her face held a look of confusion. Did it just? But, how? More questions had enveloped her mind as she tried to comprehend the situation. The girl stepped closer to the side of the bumper, pressing her right side of her face onto the surprisingly warm metal surface. Her ears were greeted by a strong pulse of a gentle rhythmic thumping sound that emanated from inside the engine; it was a heart beat.

There was simply no way that an engine could produce a pulse such as this one. It baffled her completely, yet the more she listened to it the more peaceful it sounded. Shutting both her eyes and continued to listen, although she was not aware that underneath her sweater was her necklace; shining intensely with each passing moment she remained motionless.

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Flying high above the clouds was a spaceship, infamous of being occupied by many Decepticon soldiers on board: The Decepticon Warship. A slender, yet scrawny looking jet strolled outside the dark corridors of the ship making its way into the main control room. Upon entering, there stood a large Decepticon. His spiky armor, along with his cannon located on his right forearm can cause absolute fear to those who dares to cross paths with the gladiator.

The jet halted a few feet away from the intimidating gladiator, whose back was turned. He bowed slightly as he placed his sharp metal claws upon his chest, finally announcing his presence. "Lord Megatron, pardon to intrude, but there is something that you must know.", the mechs' shrill voice echoed throughout the room: which was filled with Decepticons. He then proceeded his conversations towards his master. "There appears to be a strong signal that our sensors had detected just a few moments ago. But the signal is far from being that of an Autobot, yet it's not from a Decepticon either."

The gladiator turned around as he now faced his second in command. His crimson eyes focusing onto the scrawny jet before him. "And yet you didn't send out any of my servants to investigate the signal?", his menacing voice rose slightly with irritation causing the jet to flinch. "Ah! My sincere apologies master. I shall be the one to depart, and investigate the source myself."

"No!", he lashed out at him causing his second in command to stumble on his heels. Megatron snarled before speaking, "I've had enough of your offers for one day. Send in the ground troopers, and allow them to capture the source. Do I make myself clear for you Starscream?". He raised his brow-ridge, as his expression darkened towards the seeker.

Starscream collected himself from the floor before nervously clasping his servos together. "Yes, of course, Lord Megatron."

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The silence was interrupted by two purple vehicles passing by them. Lucy stepped away from the truck, as her gaze followed the two cars. Though, the longer she stared the closer they became. The vehicles came to a halt as they stood motionless from afar. She somehow could feel their stares penetrating through her very soul. The girl took a step back only to be greeted by the sounds of their cannons, ready to fire.

Lucy stood there unsure of what to even do. If she ran they could easily get to her within moments. Every possible scenario she could think of would all turn into her imminent capture. Just when all options seemed lost, the passenger door of the truck swung open leaving her dumbfounded for a moment. What happened next truly sent chills down her spine, and a deep voice spoke through the radio of the car.

"Get in.", she gazed inside the truck realizing no one was occupying the driver's seat. Her mind couldn't wrap around from this situation. She couldn't even think properly, as she only stared at the truck more. Although, her stare was shattered from the sounds of blasters, one hitting near her.

She yelped as she stumbled sideways, and held onto to the door for support. The girl couldn't help but take in consideration to the trucks offer. She swiftly entered inside the cab, taking a seat. That was when the door closed itself and the engine of the semi roared to life. She watched in awe as the seat belt came down on its own, wrapping itself onto her figure. Whatever was happening before her, by all means, the truck wanted nothing more than to protect her from harm. The truck sped off from the park as the two vehicles followed behind, yet the truck gains enough momentum out running the hostile vehicles, for now.

Her fingers gripped onto the bottom seat tightly unaware that her nails dug into the seat, and caused the truck to wince. "The bloody hell is going on?!", she exclaimed. The girl did not expect an answer from the truck as his deep voice echoed throughout the cab, "Do not worry young one. Explanations can come later.". His voice, calming and reassuring. She exhaled to calm her rapid heartbeat, nodding slightly in response.

Her gaze drifted out the window as the truck drove onto a bridge. The silence between them was unmoving and none dared to speak. Although, it didn't last long and the sounds of gun firing echoed from behind. The truck swerved to the left as to avoid getting hit, yet Lucy was not anticipating this and held onto to the door to keep her in place. She raised her gaze towards the rearview mirror and could see the purple vehicles firing at them.

 _'This cannot get any more troublesome than it is.'_. The girl had spoken too soon. One of the vehicles drove next to the truck to her left and began to forcefully push him off the rail. She screamed from the forceful impact from her side that made contact with the railing. An unpleasant sound of metal being in contact with the railing screeched awfully loud through her eardrums, as she covered her sensitive ears with her hands. "This can't be real!". She exclaimed once more with her eyes closed shut.

The hostile vehicle pushes the semi, but with much more force as the railing gave in. The truck was falling. Her eyes shot open, and her pupils had shrunken. It's as if time had slowed down, and her eyes had shut themselves once more. She couldn't die like this. There was so much life had to offer her and now she is falling, yet is this really how things would end? She waited for the impact of the ground below, yet it never came. It simply didn't make sense. How was she still breathing? Lucy slowly opened her eyes and was now staring at the window before her. She blinked in confusion.

How is she able to be staring at the window? Looking at it closely there was a red hue underneath, along with other pieces metal mushed together beneath it. Her mind couldn't grasp what she was seeing. She felt something that cradled her protectively. Curiously, raising her head as her eyes widen in pure shock. A giant robot stood before her, holding onto the edge of the bridge with his left hand as he tried to hoist himself up. He held her small figure close to his chest protectively as he proceeded to pull himself back up.

 _'He saved my life.'_. Lucy gawked at her savior observing him in silence. His face was shielded by a mask with a symmetrical rectangular shaped blue hue on either side. Her eyes caught another robot that stood before them, yet this one didn't look too friendly. It's silvery and purple armor was menacing as it towered above them. The robot's cannon pointed at her protector who was defenseless, yet he didn't fire. Instead, his metallic foot stomped onto her protectors' hand making him yell out in pain. His fingers began to slip, and his gaze landed on her. His aqua blue eyes piercing through her lilac ones. "Hold on tight."

Nodding in response. She wrapped her arms onto one of his fingers. He then proceeded to let go of his grip from the ledge as they now began to fall at an alarming rate. Her heart sunk down into her stomach as the wind howled loudly through her ears. The sentient being landed onto the bottom without any problems as he kneeled down, and his gaze landed onto the small human femme on his servo. She lifted her head to stare at him, and his hand shifted gently so that she was able to sit upon his palm. And she did. His optics scanned for any signs of injuries, and the femme must have noticed his concerning stare. She tilted her head to the side. His mask retracted as he spoke with concern. "Are you alright?"

She nodded in response. His expression changed from that of concern to a warm one as he smiled warmly at her. The girl was surprised as her eyes fluttered wildly. He noticed her cheeks began to change into a light shade of pink. This confused the prime, yet the moment didn't last long as a loud thud was heard a few feet away from them. The two enemies were now glaring at them with their guns ready to fire. The prime held the young femme protectively around his chest and his left forearm transformed into a silvery-blue cannon. The enemy didn't take this action lightly and began to fire at him.

He too fired back at the enemy as he kept the femme close to his chest. One of them were aiming at the femme and their blaster shot towards her. The prime saw this, and he swiftly turned his back towards the upcoming fire. Hitting him in the back. He cried out in pain as his cannon transformed back into his left hand, which was now supporting him above the ground. The girl clasped both her hands onto her mouth, gasping silently. The prime set the femme down, as she stumbled onto her footing before staring up at him with a worried look in her eyes.

"Blimey! are you alright?". The femme exclaimed. She took a step forward but was stopped by his giant servo that slightly pushed her back. His optics pierced through her own as he huffed out sternly. "Hide.". It was all he needed to say. The girl hesitated, before nodding and took off. He watched her run off as he slowly stood up, and faced the two enemies. Summoning his blasters and began to fire.

Lucy ran as fast as her legs could carry her. Hearing the gun fires from the enemies as they tried to blast her away. She dodged their poor aiming easily and continued on running. The prime summoned his blade and charged at the enemy who aimed their blasters at her. She ran into a nearby sewage drain pipe and hid from plain sight. Watching the scene before her. There stood her savior fending off the enemy single-handedly, but there was only one. Where was the second one? And there it was. Standing near her hiding spot, although it didn't seem to take notice of her presence. But the trooper had evil intentions. Charging up its gun as it aimed towards the red and blue bot.

 _'You arsehole. I won't let you hurt him!'._

Lucy outstretched her right arm as she aimed it at the trooper before her. A blue hue began to shine from her hand and her eyes began to glow as well. Her lilac orbs had altered themselves into a cyan color, along with her necklace as it emanated a gentle shine within her sweater. Suddenly, he began to struggle and swung his claw-like hands around his neck cables, yet nothing was there. Lucy slowly began to close her hand, simultaneously crushing the robot's metallic head as he wailed out in pain. She swiftly closed her palm into a fist and the troopers head was flattened like a pancake within seconds. Its limp corpse fell onto the ground.

She came out of her hiding spot and walked around the lifeless husk of the bot next to her. Her eyes landed onto the primes figure as he threw the dead soldier onto the ground. The girl sprinted her way across the field. His optics caught a glimpse of her and turned around to face her completely. She approached him a few feet away from his legs as the bot kneeled down to her eye level.

"Thank you for protecting me.". The femme clasped her hands together that laid onto her chest. The prime simply nodded. "My name is Lucy, and yours might be?". The girl raised her brow curiously. "My name is Optimus Prime. It's a pleasure meeting you, Lucy, but I fear that the Decepticons will undoubtedly be searching for you.". He disclosed the information to Lucy who was fiddling with her fingers nervously.

"There's more of them?". The tone in her voice was soft spoken. Optimus nodded. His eyes softening, which made her tense shoulders relax, "You needn't worry Lucy. I will not let them harm you, that I can promise you.". He reassured the girl. She responded with a smile. "Perhaps we should leave. I fear that more of them may come if we stay here longer.", she said softly to him. Nodding in agreement.

Optimus stood up making room for himself as he began to transform into his alt-mode. His passenger side door swung open for her to enter, and she made her way inside the cab, closing the door. His engine roared to life as he drove away from the field, and made his way back onto the road. Lucy gazed out from the window as she silently watched the moving background in front of her. Her eyes drifted off above the orange and pink hue sky, her eyes halfway open. She enjoyed admiring the world around her. It reminds her of how much we all look forward to living our lives in serenity. Her train of thought was interrupted by Optimus's voice. "Is everything alright Lucy?" The prime asked, uncertain as to what the girl was wondering about.

A soft hum emanated from her vocal cords before speaking. "Hm? Yes. I'm quite alright. I was only in deep thought is all.". Lucy's eyes landed on the wheel, staring at the symbol imprinted in the middle. "Might I ask what was on your mind?". The prime asked. She pondered for a moment as she then spoke again. "I am a little perplexed. Sentient beings from another world living amongst us, yet I can't quite grasp this completely.", The girl placed her hand on her cheek. "It all happened so fast."

Optimus hummed softly as the girl was once again in deep thought. Everything about this young femme was all too peculiar, and it was certainly worth knowing her more. All humans are unique in their own special way, yet this girl didn't act like the other three. She was more collected and thinks rationally before making the right decisions. Although, her strange accent was something he had never heard before. Her voice was soft and welcoming, yet it seems as if the girl was a little eccentric. This baffled him. Lucy was truly a remarkable being.

"Allow me to finally explain our reason as to why we are here on earth." Lucy listened intently as he began to clarify the missing piece of information to her. His explanation was a bit longer than expected, but she enjoyed hearing through all of it. The most extremely heart-wrenching part of his lecture was that of his planet called Cybertron had been poisoned and was slowly dying. Along with many fallen warriors who were defending their home world, as well as, the opposing threat that poisoned their planet to its very core. It was saddening to imagen that the only way for their kind to survive is to leave their precious planet. Their home that now rests deep within space as an uninhabitable place for any living creature to occupy.

Lucy hadn't realized her surroundings as the prime drove around the streets of Jasper and slowly came to a halt in front of her home. She raised her gaze out the window and stared at her two-story home. A smile appeared on her lips as her eyes drifted off towards the wheel. "Thank you for bringing me home Optimus." Her hands landed on her chest with an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry for gripping the seat before. All the excitement was all too much for me to handle!" She jokingly exclaimed, her eyes then softened. "Thank you for saving my life."

"We Autobots are here to protect your kind. Such harm that is inflicted upon you would mean that I have failed my promise." She then cut him off in a gentle tone. "Yet, you didn't." Lucy unfastened her seat belt and then exited the cab. "Oh!" She hushed to herself and held onto the open door. "Optimus, would it be alright if I gave you my number. I would like to stay in contact with you. Well, If that is alright with you, of course." She shyly curls the strands of her hair with a single finger, blushing a little.

Her actions amused him in a way, and he found it quite attractive. The prime smiled inwardly as he spoke softly. "I do not mind." She perked up. A smile appearing on her lips and began to hand over her number to him. Lucy closed the door and strolled over towards the front door of her home. She swiftly turned around and faced the semi truck. Waving her hand towards him before he drove off down the streets.

The girl stood there for awhile seeing him disappear in the distance. The necklace had left her feeling more warm-hearted, as the warmth lingered a little longer. She soon made her way inside, yet her smile never faded as she closed the door behind her.

Meanwhile, at the Autobot base, Jack and Miko had been playing video games for awhile now. Raf had been a little preoccupied with his homework, yet he still watched them playing on the game console. Bumblebee stood behind the railing next to Raf and watched the two teenagers upon the couch. Along with bulkhead who was cheering for Miko to win. Ratchet, on the other hand, was occupied on the other side working on the monitors and tried his very best to ignore the obnoxious noises to no avail.

The medic mumbled under his breath and continued analyzing the unknown signal that appeared an hour ago. He was surprised. The signal didn't belong to an Autobot, nor from a Decepticon. It certainly left him with many questions, and sadly they cannot be answered without proper evidence. He only had the information across the screen which wasn't all too helpful, considering the fact that this 'thing' was not even real. Yet, there it was on the screen with no solid explanation as to what it was. His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of an engine emanating from the tunnel to his right.

The prime came to a halt next to the controls to activate the ground bridge and transformed. He stood next to the medic, as his optics drifted towards the three humans. Optimus smiled, not noticing the medics raised brow-ridge, confusion written across Ratchets face. "Optimus?" The prime glanced towards the medic beside him. "You seem awfully loose. Did something occurred?"

He wasn't fond of keeping secrets from his team. Although, he had other plans to introduce their newest member to their _"Science Fiction Club"_ as Jack Darby would put it. It was somewhat of a surprise for all of them to find out for themselves. "Nothing had occurred, Ratchet," Optimus replied to his friend's question. The medics expression had eased into his usual grumpy manner. "Well, then, there is something you must to see."

The prime stood behind him as the medic showed him the unrecognizable signal. His optics widen slightly, but not because of the signal but the location where it was present. The park. His mind swiftly thought about the girl. Was it simply a coincidence? Or could it have been something else? Whatever it could be, it was certain that the young femmes safety was its main priority. He simply will not allow her to be harmed. It had only been an hour he had met the girl, and already he felt a strong connect towards her. The universe can work in mysterious ways.


	3. Three: Introductions

_.".".".". The Next Morning ."."."."._

Lucy was once again staring out from the open window, watching the view of the sky in silence. She had been dressed for a while now. Her clothing she wore were: A thin earth yellow sweater with a bunny embroidered around her chest down to her stomach, she had over the ankle light navy blue pants along with ebony boots that had pink flower patterns. Her hair was loose and neatly combed into a waterfall hairstyle, which had a braid around the back of her head and her bangs were pulled back.

She soon closed the window and made her way down the stairs. Grabbing her keys and shoving her phone into her back pocket as she exited the house, and began to walk the empty sidewalk. Finally arriving at the library as she entered inside. Lucy greeted her friend, and Lucy received a welcoming smile from the lady.

"Good morning Dear." Rikona placed the pen down onto the desk. The girl stood in front of the desk. "Good morning, Miss Nomusa" Lucy gazed at the librarian who stood up from her desk and strolled over next to her. The woman's hazel eyes studied her as she leaned closer to the young worker's face, although, because of the height difference. Lucy was taller than her. "How have you been?" She took a step back, a smile on her lips.

"I am doing well." Lucy blinked as her middle-aged friend studied her from head to toe. It's as if the lady had been quietly reading her thoughts, and what she said had her feeling uncertain. "You sure dear? You seem tense. Is there something troubling you?", A tiny drop of sweat appeared on her cheek at the woman's penetrating stare. Lucy smiled heartfully.

Lucy never liked keeping secrets. Especially to Rikona. She didn't want to be a burden and cause her the trouble of constantly worrying her. As if she would believe that robotic organisms from another planet are currently defending human kind from the tyranny of the Decepticons, and are disguised as vehicles. Yes. That sounds like a load of rubbish. Yet, Lucy is willing to keep it her little secret from Rikona, for her own safety.

"No, really, I am quite alright. You needn't worry. It's just that there was nothing else to do these past few days so…" she trailed off, slightly rolling her eyes. Rikonas' expression softened. "Well, If you want I can assign you to revise the categories around the historical section." Lucy's eyes sparkled with delight, nodding to the woman's suggestion.

The young worker strolled on over to the history section and began to patiently read each stamp which was number coordinated. Writing it down on a notepad and separating the books that don't belong there by a row difference. As the hours went by. The clock struck four in the afternoon. Rikona left an hour earlier for an appointment with her doctor and left Lucy to close up for the day.

The girl made sure all the doors were closed before leaving out the entrance. Closing the doors. She turned around and noticed the semi truck parked in front of the Library. A smile appeared on her lips as she walked down the steps, and stood in front of the passage door. The girl would have placed her hand on the paint job, but her arms were currently holding onto a laptop and two large science books.

"Afternoon, Optimus. I wasn't expecting a visit from you today.". Lucy said in a hushed tone. Tilting her head to the side. His deep voice echoed gently. "After the events of the previous day, it is my duty to take you back with the others. You will be in constant supervision from now.", She blinked, as she softly repeated his words in confusion, " 'With the others?'"

"There are more Autobots besides me. However, some of them are not aware of your presence." Some? Does she know any of them? Or maybe they know her? His passenger door opened, as she entered with ease. The seat belt once again held her torso neatly, a sly of a smile showed across her face.

His engine turned itself on as he drove away from the library. Lucy's gaze drifted onto the window, watching the buildings pass by before it was replaced by the sandy terrain. The silence inside the cab was exceptionally pacifying. They didn't need to speak, in fact, the atmosphere around them was much too welcoming to be abolished.

The base finally came into view as the truck now drove out of the road and into the sandy floor. She hadn't noticed him driving off the road when her line of sight was introduced by a barely lit up tunnel. The girl blinked in confusion then her eyes widen in awe. The place was gigantic, so to speak, though what caught her attention was the large green monitors next to an odd looking lever with a rather medium sized monitor above it. Optimus's vehicle stopped, yet his engine was still running as he then called out her name.

"Lucy." She jumped from her seat from his sudden speech. Her eyes landed on the wheel and stuttered her words ever so softly. "Y-yes?". His voice once again boomed throughout the cab, she swore she heard a hint of amusement in his tone. "You may exit my vehicle mode." Her cheeks turned pink, nodding in response.

She exited the truck along with her flustered face. Stepping away from his vehicle as he then transformed. The twists and turns for his original form are what truly amazed her. Lucy's gaze landed onto another Cybertronian, who's gaze pierced through her like a blunt knife. Her eyes widen, not because of fright, but because of his attracting looking form. He appeared to be the medic out of the entire group, he was fairly tall, yet not as tall as Optimus who stood beside her. The medics white and orange color scheme was truly eye-catching. She could feel her cheeks heat up slightly as her eyes stared into his bright cyan eyes. To her disappointment, his stare broke from hers instantly. She frowned slightly.

The old bot scoffed. His optics landing onto the leader before him, as he had a questionable look written across his metallic features. "Optimus, why is there a human standing right there?!" His gruff voice raised slightly as he motioned his hands towards Lucy. The medic was certainly shocked by this. More humans?! He questioned his leader, not wanting to believe what his optics had seen. "I apologize for not informing you, old friend, but I fear that the Decepticons could be targeting her as we speak." He paused but then continued. "The event had occurred the previous day." The prime briefly informed his medic who was not all too pleased.

"Having three humans is already hard on its own, yet now I have to deal with four!" The medic threw his arms slightly in the air in protest, yet the leader didn't seem fazed by it. Lucy only stood there in silence, watching the scene before her. She didn't want to stick around any longer as she walked away from Optimus's side. Making her way up the stairs.

As she made it half way up the steps she was suddenly glomped by an unknown person. Her belongings almost fell from her grasp, luckily her tight grip prevented them from falling. She glanced down at a young girl with two pigtails on either side of her head, which had pink highlights on the ends. The girl removed Lucy from her grasp as she now stared at her with delight, a grin appeared across the Japanese girl.

"No way! Another human. This is so awesome!" She exclaimed, rather loudly. Her voice ringed through Lucy's sensitive ears. "My name is Miko, and who might you be?" Lucy smiled sweetly at the girl. "Lucy. It's nice to meet you.", Just then, two boys above another set of stairs exclaimed her name loudly, "Lucy?!" Her eyes moved away from Miko and were now staring at Jack, and next to him was Raf. Lucy's eyes widen, calling out their names in shock. "Jack… Raf?"

Optimus and the medic had been watching the scene before them, as they both looked at each other in disbelief before turning their gaze back at the four humans. "The two of you know her?!" Ratchet blurted out loudly as the two human boys turned their head towards a surprised looking Ratchet. Raf smiled nervously. "Actually, I meet her before. She was the one who defended me from Vince. We've known each other for three months now." Jack crossed his arms, as he to responded. "I met her yesterday."

Miko gawked at the boys, her face showing a little bit of hurt in her eyes. "What? You two meet her before I did?! That's so unfair." The girl complained, placing her hands on her hips glaring at Jack. "Seriously?", Jack responded to her last comment but she simply ignored him as she walked passed him.

Lucy smiled. Walking up the stairs as she now stood in front of the two boys. "Blimey. Out of all the people to meet it was you two, not to be rude, but how did you two end up in this 'predicament'?" Tilting her head to the side. Jack responded. "Let's just say that we were at the wrong place, and at the wrong time.", he smiled, walking over to the couch.

She could feel someone's gaze pierce through her back. Turning around in search of the culprit. It was the Autobot medic, she didn't quite catch his name. Although, she got the feeling that he wasn't all too fond of humans. As soon as her eyes landed on him, he turned away. This confused her, though she shrugged it off lightly. Lucy walked over to a small loveseat and sat down placing her things next to her.

"Hey!" Miko called her out, as the girl shyly lifted her gaze to her. "What's that you got there?", "Oh, this? These are two science books and my laptop." Miko groaned loudly, squinting her eyes shut. "Are you one of those boo-". Jack butted in. "Miko!" the female teen only glared at him with a face that read, _'Problem?'_.

Her expression softened. Feeling a light tap on her arm as she glanced at Raf, who was smiling at her. Raf was as excited as the others to have Lucy apart of their team. The two of them chatted, soon Jack and Miko joined in their conversation. Enjoying the time with laughs and making terrible jokes. The rest of the Autobots appeared beside them and greeted Lucy with open arms. Bumblebee, who was Raf's guardian had thanked her for protecting Raf. The rest of the group was shocked that she understood the young scout. Lucy was flustered, shyly curling her strand of hair with her finger. She was not used to this kind of attention, it was all new to her.

Two hours had passed by, the rest of the group left with their three humans out to eat. They invited Lucy to come, but she politely denied. Stating that she wasn't too hungry, yet Miko insisted that she would bring some leftovers for her. She couldn't say no to that offer and agreed. Optimus wasn't in the room, so he must be somewhere in the halls. The only ones who were present in the room were her and the Autobot medic.

Lucy was silently tapping away on her laptop, while the medic was located in the medical bay. The air around the room was thick, though the girl never minded the silence. She found it quite welcoming, that was until a low groan caught her ears. Turning her head slightly to the left, observing the orange and white Autobot narrowing his eyes in frustration. She couldn't help but find the scene mildly entertaining. The girl didn't realize she was staring until the medics gaze landed onto her. Her cheeks heated up before swiftly looking away and back to her laptop screen.

He raised his brow-ridge before resuming his work. The fact that there was another human irritated him, which meant there would be more distractions. Although, the girl never spoke beside chatting with others in a soothing and hushed tone. Her voice would send his spark into a fluttering frenzy, and this bothered him. He grumbled to himself, grabbing his wrench and began to fix a broken machine that bulkhead accidently smashed, again. He needed that.

Lucy could hear his low murmuring from afar, she peeked over to where the medic was. His back was turned away from her. She closed her laptop, placing it on the loveseat and strolled over to the other side of the railing. The medic was cursing under his breath and this made her smile. She wanted to learn more about them individually, and the Autobot she wants to know more is the grumpy old 'bot before her.

A loud clanking echoed, which was enough to make him groan loudly. She stepped forward placing her hands onto the railing. "Is everything alright?", her voice made the medic jump, making him drop his wrench with a loud bang. She too flinched but never moved from her spot. His optics landed onto the young female who stood next to the railing to the med bay.

He had a questionable look across his optics. "Shouldn't you be focusing on… whatever you were doing?" he mumbled, picking up the wrench from the floor. "My assignment has already been completed. I have no need to continue something that is already done". She stated softly. Ratchet glanced at the girl momentarily before averting his eyes away from her. "You are such a shufflebutt."

"W-what?!". He cried in utter disbelief. Was she trying to insult me?! The girl had an apologetic smile before clarifying herself. "Oh, s-sorry! Shufflebutt isn't insulting, it means a person who is restless or being rather fidgety.", _'Blimey, I muck up that one didn't I?.'_ Lucy began to curl a strand of her hair with a single finger shyly. Her cheeks beginning to warm up from utter embarrassment.

"You humans and your strange vocabularies.", he scoffed turning away from the femme. Lucy raised her gaze at the medics back, slightly frowning. "Do you need any help?". She asked, in a hushed tone. The medic responded rather harshly without turning towards her, which made her heart sink. "No. I am perfectly fine working on my own. Now would you please, quit pestering me."

"I just…wanted to help.". Her voice cracked, which caused him to abruptly stop. Did he dare to look at her? Yet, he did and what his optics saw caused his spark to ache uncontrollably. There stood the femme with watery eyes trying hard to keep the tears from falling. She slowly stepped away from the railing before whispered softly, "I understand"

Ultimately regretting his poor choice of words while cursing his Cybertronian pride inwardly. Ratchet stepped forward, reaching his free servo towards the femme, but nothing came out from his lips. He watched as the girl disappeared inside the elevator. The medic was never known to lose his cool, but it was all too overwhelming. Gripping his wrench tightly before launching it into the nearest wall next to him. 

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The sun had finally set over the horizon, as the moon appeared, so did the stars across the night sky. She felt the cold breeze tickle her damp cheeks. The tears she kept from spilling out had fallen down when the elevator door closed behind her. What the medic said to her hadn't left her mind. Was she really a bother? No, that's just nonsense. From the moment she laid eyes on him she could tell that he was not too fond of having humans around. This all made sense. He never meant to hurt her.

Loud footsteps could be heard, and the robot who stood behind her was none other than the medic himself. His guilt was eating him from the inside out and he couldn't concentrate properly. Ratchet came after her, which is odd for him to do so. He felt out of character from his usual grumpiness. The medic stood behind the femme, unsure of what to say.

He pinched the bridge of his…nose? Gaining enough courage to stand next to the femme. Lucy smiled to herself. "The stars look wonderful tonight. Wouldn't you agree?". The medic's optics drifted down to her figure, yet her gaze was fixed onto the stars. His spark once again skipped a beat, and he cursed himself inwardly before uttering a soft reply. "Yes."

Her eyes landed onto the medic beside her. The welcoming lights of the moon had shined down onto his armor, and the contrast from its original orange and white hue had been softened by the light. The longer she fixed her stare onto his attracting face, the tingling of her cheeks would continue. Tilting her head slightly and spoke with curiosity. "Pardon me, but I never got to know your name.", he tilted his head down, staring at the girl. "Ratchet."

"You have quite a unique name.". He clearly didn't expect her to compliment his given name, it left him surprised. "Um… thank you.". The smile she gave him was intoxicating, and this made him smile unknowingly. Lucy once again complimented him, "You should smile more often. It suits you.". Ratchet blinked before his smile disappeared and was back to its usual grumpiness.

Why did he force himself to come up here? Maybe he should have stayed where he was most needed. No. This is where he was supposed to be, and he wasn't going to let his pride get the best of him. As he was about to speak the young femme spoke before him. "Let me guess, you are going to apologize for what you said before.". Her eyes landed on his wide ones. The way he looked was all the kind of cuteness and was enough to make her giggle softly.

"How did you…". He trailed off, leaving him temporarily glitched. "You never meant to hurt me. The words just…slipped right out.", an aching feeling rushed through his spark chamber. He didn't realize his expression change into that of sadness. The pain was written across his optics. Lucy smiled sympathetically. "You don't have to say anything. I forgive you, Ratchet."

Her alluring smile was enough to make his metal cheeks heat up, and the girl quickly noticed it. She blinked, surprised to witness Ratchet blushing. Just how much adorableness could she take? Lucy giggled, covering her mouth with her fingers. "Oh Ratchet, I didn't realize Cybertronians could be all flustered."

Ratchet's optics widen before looking away, feeling utterly embarrassed. Lucy couldn't get enough of him. He was all too overwhelming and it was causing her to have the butterflies tickling her stomach. She just stared at him with a smile on her lips as he somewhat pouted like a giant baby. The girl's gaze was back onto the starry sky, feeling the cold breeze kiss her cheeks. Ratchet straightened his face and took a quick glance at the girl then back onto the stars. She was right. The stars really do look wonderful. He could feel the wind brushed against his armor leaving light tickles upon it.

For the first time, he felt in peace. Being occupied around their HQ for such a long period of time, and never getting a good recharge had really taken its toll on him. He allowed his body to relax as he gratefully enjoyed the moment. Closing his optics and a shadow of a sly smile spread across his lips. As the night went by, neither had spoken to each other. They didn't need to. The silence was their conversation and they were in complete contentment. He was glad to meet her up here, and that alone had satisfied him greatly.


	4. Four: A Regular Day

_.".".".". Three Days Later ."."."."._

Bulkhead drove down the streets, it was early in the morning. He was taking Miko to school. The young girl sat there with her earphones on, humming her favorite song. Her guardian remained silent as he now neared the school. Though, Miko was too caught up in her song and with her thoughts.

Miko had a blast this weekend. Jack and herself were pranking each other nonstop, then again, Ratchet wasn't all too pleased about the game taking place in their base. Soon enough, two new members joined their little joke festival, which was Bulkhead and Bumblebee. Their pranks were harmless, although things began to escalate rather quickly.

From whoopee cushions to injecting mayo into Miko's favorite donuts. While the first 'bot to make, a move was Bumblebee, spilling oil around the base for those who are unfortunate enough to slip. His first victim was Arcee. The femme wasn't too happy about getting her armor dirty and had to clean herself from the oil. Bumblebee was doing his victory dance; however, Ratchet fell victim to the scout's prank and sadly fell face first onto the concrete floor. Everyone in the room fell deadly silent. Lucy must have been the only person concerned enough to aid at his side.

The girls' tiny hands touched his helmet, and in response, a low groan escaped his lips. Ratchet's eyes flickered open in a daze, staring at Lucy before him. As soon as the medic was up on his peds things went downhill fast. Ratchet was fuming. Poor bumblebee had to dodge the old medics wrenches while the others scrambled to hide from his wrath. Lucy was the only human who didn't hide from Ratchet. Optimus arrived at the base only to find an angry medic covered in oil. The prime turned his attention to Lucy, who was the only human present, explained the ordeal to the prime.

The following day was something they all could never forget. Lucy was their next victim and she had been avoiding every possible trap there was. It was almost frustrating at how quick the girl was to her surroundings. She had been in the main room with Ratchet and Optimus, silently reading a book in hand. The three humans and their guardians had been setting up their trap, yet they were completely unaware that Lucy had been peeking from behind her book when they weren't looking. She smiled at their futile attempt to prank her. When Miko tried to coax the girl to come to the med bay, in response, Lucy took out a can of silly string spray, shooting it at Miko, it's green strings covering the girls face making her fall.

The room was filled with laughter. Lucy had won the prank war, but it wasn't over. She held out a remote control with a red button in the center, pressing it. Colorful silly strings appeared around her victims, which were: Arcee, Bulkhead, Bumblebee, Jack and Raf. They were shocked and we're confused as to how she managed to plan this. Lucy happily disclosed the information. Optimus and Ratchet helped her plan to come to fruition. Their mouths were agape, and their faces were in utter shock. Lucy laughed following a soft chuckle from Ratchet and a smile from Optimus. In the end, everyone began to laugh.

Miko was snapped out of her flashback and was now being shaken by the seat. She yelped as the earphones flew out of her ears. When the seat stopped shaking, she glared at the wheel. "What was that for?", the girl raised her brow questionably, "You're late for school Miko.". She groaned, in response.

Miko exited the vehicle with her stuff in hand. Closing the door with her elbow. "Bye Bulk!", she waved. Watching him drive off around the corner. As she was walking up the steps, a sudden realization hit her and groaned loudly. "Great. I forgot to do my homework, again."

A sly smirk appeared on her lips. She made her way down the steps and began to stroll away from the school. "Teach' won't mind if I cut for a little bit." 

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Lucy stood next to a cart filled with math-related books, which she now organized them and placed them in their rightful place. Finally, placing the last book upon the shelve as she then stretched her arms forward. The library opened a few minutes ago, and not one person had entered. It was early so not many people would stop by at this hour. She hummed softly walking out of the Math section.

"Helloo?". A girl's voice echoed throughout the air. Lucy turned her head towards the sound and saw a familiar individual standing next to the front desk. "Miko?". The Japanese girl perked up before running next to Lucy's side. "Hiya!", Lucy tilted her head slightly, "Aren't you supposed to be in school?"

Miko huffed out a nervous laugh, as a tiny sweat drop trailed down her cheek. "Um… yeah, but I have a good reason!". Lucy had both her hands on her hips with her eyes narrowed, raising a brow questionably. "Well…. I forgot to do my homework and it's due today…", she trailed off. Smiling awkwardly at Lucy, who had an unchanged look on her face.

"You should be more responsible with your school work.". The girls' pigtails lowered shamefully, "However, I will help you.". Miko's hair perked up, a wide smile spread across her lips. Lucy held up a single finger in the air, "But you will be doing it on your own. I will simply be there if you have any questions."

Miko only nodded, the smile never leaving her face. Lucy smiled before guiding Miko to a rounded table, "What subject is the homework for?", she asked. While Miko pondered for a moment before snapping her fingers. "History!". Lucy nodded. Leaving Miko to search for the book.

The Japanese girl sat down on the chair, pulling out her pink colored cell phone. A new message appeared on her screen before she opened it, it read: _'Miko, where are you? The class already started.'_. It was from Jack Darby. She instantly began to text him and started a small conversation. 

' _Sorry, but I'm at the library. Forgot to do my homework. You know, the usual.' -Miko_

' _How surprising. You never miss a beat when it comes to doing homework. Let me guess, history, wasn't it?' -Jack_

' _Dude, you know I don't like History! Well, except for that one time when I got caught by that security guard. (_ _︿￣_ _)_ _'_ _-Miko_

' _Yeah, but that was different. You were pressured into using your mind to say stuff you never thought were useful. . ' -Jack_

' _Hey, what's that supposed to mean?! Hump! Anyways, what about you? Did you do the homework?' -Miko_

' _Oh, I did. Unlike somebody here, I am responsible and I never forget.' -Jack_

' _What. You did your homework… Why didn't you tell me!? I could've copied yours._ _ヘ_ _'_ _-Miko_

' _Geez, the teacher would definitely give us a zero for copying each other's work. Either way, I wasn't going to let you copy my homework that I did._ ___ _'_ _-Jack_

Miko huffed out loudly with her arms crossed. Jack never allowed her to once get away with homework. The girl pouted silently until she saw Lucy coming her way, and her pouty face had quickly vanished. Lucy placed a medium sized History book onto the table, as she then took a seat in front of Miko. The Japanese girl took out her notebook as she flipped the pages one by one. Before opening the book and quietly began to read. Lucy took out her phone, as she silently scrolled down the touch screen and watched a video with subtitles on.

A few minutes had gone by. Lucy was scrolling down her galaxy note four after finishing the video. Suddenly she heard Miko mumbling under her breath. She curiously glanced towards the girl in front her. Miko was chewing her pencil while she glared down at the book before her. It was quite amusing to watch her fret over the book. Lucy smiled. "Do you need help?"

She jumped at the sound of her eccentric voice. Her eyes landed onto Lucy. Miko shifted embarrassingly from her seat. "Uh… I can't find it.", "What are you looking for?". She simply slid her notebook towards Lucy, who was reading the question. A soft hum emanated from her vocal cords. Lucy grabbed the book and swiftly began to turn the pages before she came to a halt. "The question is in the fourth paragraph.". She stated. Handing over the notebook and the book.

Miko soon read the paragraph, and her head shot up with wide eyes. "No way. How did yo-", "I read in my spare time.". Miko was speechless, her mouth was wide open. Lucy smiled, "I am what you call me a bookworm. I take no offense over that."

"Heh, heh, sorry.". Miko rubbed her cheek with an apologetic smile. Lucy simply shook her head. "Don't be." Miko stood up from her seat and swung her backpack onto her shoulder. "You're not bad. Oh, and thank you for helping me.", "I'm always here to help." Miko took a quick note of the answer before closing her notebook. Lucy stood up and held the book in her arms. As both girls walked over to the front desk, Lucy was kind enough to write a valid excuse for Miko to hand over to the teacher.

"Make sure to hand this over to the teacher. I'm sure she will understand." Lucy stated, smiling reassuringly. Miko nodded before literally sprinting out the door.

Lucy shook her head and a soft laugh escaped her lips. What she did not know is that Rikona was standing behind her as she softly spoke to her. "I see you made a new friend.". Instantly, she yelped, dropping the book from her grasp. Lucy turned around and exhaled with relief. "Oh! Miss Shuzuka, you scared me.", she placed a single hand on her chest. Rikona chuckled softly, "Sorry if I scared you, dear. I'm delighted to see that you are making new friends."

The young worker bends down, picking up the book before fully regaining her full height. Smiling at the middle-aged woman, "Although, you will always be one of my closest friends.". Rikona reached out towards her and cupped Lucy's cheek gently. "Who would want to friends with an old woman like me?", "I would.". Lucy said, truthfully. Hugging her in response. The woman was caught by surprise and happily accepted her warm embrace. 

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The clock struck at three forty. It was time to close the library, and Lucy was the only one in the building. She rolled down a cart filled with different books and moved them to the study room. Placing the cart inside as she locked the door. Walking past the large bookshelves. Lucy stifled a yawn, yet it escaped anyways.

A loud bang echoed throughout the place which made her jump. She swiftly turned her head to the right and noticed one of the chairs had fallen over. Strange, a chair wouldn't just fall over unless… she wasn't alone. The sound of hurried footsteps was heard, yet the echoes that the building was creating made it difficult to tell if the person was even near or far. Then out of nowhere, someone grabbed her from behind, muffling their hand onto her mouth. She instantly bit down the persons' hand as they yelped in pain, and she took advantage of the moment by grabbing them by the arm. Flipping them over with force. Lucy stared down at a young ginger-haired boy, she knew all too well who it was.

"Vince.". She breathed. Staring at the fallen teen as he groaned. Lucy took a step back with her arms in defensively as he slowly stood up. His green eyes landing on her. "You got strength, cutie.". She internally rolled her eyes by the filthy nickname. It made her uncomfortable. "Why are you here?", the boy chuckled and proceeded to walk towards her. She backed away in response.

"You're so stiff. Can't I see you?". He acted as if he was hurt. Lucy's back was introduced by the wall and he now invaded her personal space. The difference between her height and him was shocking. She stood tall while he only reached her shoulders. The question was, how in the world could he cover her mouth? Such a question will remain unanswered. "After your little assault, everyone's been mocking me. The girls won't even notice me! And all they do now is laugh at me."

She felt sorry for him, but what he did to Raf was simply unacceptable. And she couldn't just stand there and let her friend get harmed. The girl silently gazes at Vince as he continued to rant. "Because of you, my reputation is ruined! You…", he hissed angrily, while she remained silent. Staring blankly at the angry boy in front of her. "You'll pay.". Vince raised his hand in the air ready to strike her. She squinted her eyes shut and waited for the pain to arrive. But it never did.

"What the?!". Vince mumbled in confusion. His arm was held back by a man's firm grip. The boy turned his head around and faced the stranger behind him whose gaze was quite intimidating. Lucy opened her eyes, landing onto the man who held Vince's arm. Her eyes widen in shock with her mouth slightly open.

The stranger wore a red jacket, which had a white line on the inside of the out-spread collar, his jacket fully open. He wore a black colored buttoned up polo shirt. The man wore navy blue, classic style khakis, along with a pair of black leather shoes. Her eyes were entranced by the man's attractive looking face, which was oval shaped. His blue hair was a slicked back, yet some small strands of hair were poking out. He had straight cut sideburns and an odd chin hair pattern, the same goes with his eyebrows. But what had her mesmerized were his bright sapphire eyes. Did I mention he was in his mid-forties? Now you know.

"Who hell do you think you are?!" Vince questioned the man as he tried to break free from his grasp, but failed. The strangers feature hardened, looking more pissed. He forcefully dragged Vince away from Lucy. Finally releasing his grip from the teen, who stumbled to stay on his feet. "Leave." The man's deep voice sent shivers down her spine. Where had she heard that voice before?

Vince scurried out of the library to be as far away from the scary man. Lucy was now alone with the stranger in front of her whose gaze landed onto her. His features had softened, and his eyes showed concern. Realization struck her, and the size of her pupils had shrunken as she uttered his name. "Optimus?!"

He simply nodded in response. The girl stepped forward as she now stood in front of him. How was this possible? Surely, he couldn't be human, yet here he was standing right in front of her. Lucy's mind was nothing but complete mush. Her wide eyes hadn't disappeared and were now arguing herself within her swirling mind. While Optimus stood there, confusion was written across his face. Not long, the girl stuttered softly. "But…how did…wha…". She was completely glitched.

"You're questioning yourself on how I am able to be human, as I am now.". The young femme nodded. "Ratchet has been modifying the function of our holoform. Which allows us to naturally blend in with your society." He explained. Lucy's features relaxed as she politely interrupted him, "I have a question. Are you able to use the five senses? I know, it's a silly thing to ask, but can you?" She shyly fiddled with her fingers.

"It's not a silly question, Lucy. And yes, we are capable of using a humans' multitude of senses." He gently placed both his hands onto the femmes' shoulders, whose eyes landed onto his worried ones. "Might I ask, who was that boy?", the prime asked with a hint of curiosity. "His name is Vince, and to put it shortly. He was the one who attempted to hurt Raf.". She said in a soft-spoken tone. Noticing his eyes had hardened ever so slightly.

"If I hadn't intervened…he would have harmed you.", "But he didn't.". She reassured him with a smile. Optimus quirked a smile. His eyes filled with astonishment as he escorted her out of the building.

The girl locked the doors and made sure they were properly closed. Once they were, she followed behind Optimus towards the semi she was all too familiar with. He kindly opened the passenger door for her. She blushed in response before shyly entering the cab and buckling her seatbelt, while the prime had already taken his seat as the engine roared to life. As he drove outside of Jasper, Lucy had been staring off from her window, enjoying the mesmerizing colors of the skies that were accompanied by the desert rocks, mountains and more. A shadow of a smile spread across her lips, closing her eyes and allowed her body's tensions to loosen. Optimus glanced over to Lucy, who was slumped back in her seat, who was relaxing in his seat.

"Lucy." His deep voice softly called out her name. The girl responded with a soft hum. "You seem to be in rather tense. Is there something bothering you?". Lucy opened her eyes, glancing over to Optimus. "Hmm…I've been preoccupied with my studies, and it's mentally exhausting.". She spoke softly. Optimus raised a curious brow. "Studies?", "I'm studying to be a doctor."

The primes holoform stared at her with wide eyes. "You want to become a doctor? Why?". He asked, curiously. She nodded in response before looking out the window once more. "I want to help the sick and injured.", the gentleness of her smile deepened. "Life is to precious to be taken away."

The atmosphere inside the truck had suddenly emanated a kind of warmth that Optimus simply could not describe it with words, yet the feeling it generated was soothing and reassuring. He could sense it, her positive outlook upon the world had left him speechless. Her views on life, it's people, were all too familiar. She shares the same views as he does. This femme truly is something else. A genuine smile appeared on his lips. As they finally arrive at the Autobot headquarters. She glanced over to Optimus, who was smiling at her before he fizzled away. Lucy exited the truck leaving space for him to transform.

While Lucy walked up the stairs, she was greeted by the three young teens, as well as, their guardians. She happily greeted them as she plopped herself onto the sofa. A few minutes had gone by as the children conversed amongst themselves. Lucy's gaze drifted away towards the med bay, where a certain old medic was. She stood from the sofa and walked over to the railing, which was in front of the monitor he was using. Ratchet hadn't acknowledged her presence and was too occupied with his work.

Lucy smiled before announcing her presence with a soft tone, "Evening Ratchet.". The medic flinched, raising his helmet only to sigh silently in relief. It was just Lucy. His optics studied her small figure as her elbows were resting on the railing while her arms dangled freely. "I see that you were quite focused there now. Mind if I ask, what were you working on?" She tilted her head curiously. "Well, since you asked. I am currently studying the stability of the Synthetic energon from which we obtained a week ago."

"Synthetic energon?", Lucy tilted her head to the side, "It is an alternative version of energon. Sadly, the formula is incomplete and it needs further testing to be able to use it for fuel or ammunition.", Ratchet slumped his shoulders, a tired expression was written across his faceplates.

Ratchet clearly, haves a lack of sleep or recharge...whatever you may call it. He was so fixated on completing the formula that he hadn't had enough time to fully rest. She furrowed her brows together with concern. Softly-speaking to the 'bot. "You haven't gotten enough sleep haven't you?" She watched him tense up. Not daring to look her in the eye. It would seem that her assumption has been corrected. He was caught red handed.

A loud sigh escaped his lips, allowing his eyes to close shut. "I have not. I'm always preoccupied with so many things that I have yet to fully get some needed recharge.". The medic rubbed his temples, his optics growing dim as they landed on the girl, whose gaze soften. "You need rest, Ratchet. If you keep resisting the need for sleep I will tell Optimus of this.", Lucy stated. Her face furrows with worry, while her eyes told him otherwise, pleading for him to rest.

His optics widen slightly before he groaned, admitting defeat. "Fine, fine.", he waved his servo at her before walking away from his workstation and into the deep halls of the base.

A smiled graced upon her lips as she watched the old 'bot disappear inside the corridors. Not long after Ratchets departure, her name was called upon by Miko. The rest of the group had a confusing stare directly at her. Her face began to flush from the attention as she made her way back onto the sofa. She could feel their stares penetrating through her very being and began to fiddle with her fingers. Lowering her head slightly, as her bangs covered her eyes.

"Hey, what's up with you and Ratchet?", Miko blurted out. Though Lucy wasn't too focused on the girls' question, but when her eyes landed towards Miko, she stuttered in confusion. "P-pardon?"

"You and Ratchet seem pretty close, don't you think?". Arcee asked with her arms crossed. Lucy's face began to burn uncontrollably and was unable to speak.

Optimus was observing them from the main control panels. Noticing the young femmes distress. He made his way over to her, standing behind the railing where the sofa was. "Lucy." She jumped from the closeness of his voice that emanated from behind her and turned her head around. The girl was greeted by the primes concern looking gaze. "Is everything alright?"

She shyly smiled. "Quite.", the prime raised his brow-ridge, seemingly unconvinced by her words. Raising his gaze towards the others, who were shifting nervously from their leaders' presence. "I suppose my presence here is not a bother to you all. Surely you aren't making fun of Lucy because she is friends with Ratchet.", Optimus glanced down at Lucy, whose face was increasing its redness. This confused him deeply.

The young scout beeped in defense, stating that there was no serious damage in teasing her a little, which earned him a nudge from the two-wheeler. Lucy giggled softly at the sight and the rest of the group began to converse with one another once again.

Feeling a gentle tap on her shoulder as she glanced down and saw a familiar metal finger that belonged to the prime. A smile spread across her lips, looking up at the leader whose gaze soften, a soft smile on his face. Her smile widen. She gently grasped his right index finger onto her tiny human hands. The scene was simply heartwarming, and it was a moment that could last an eon. No worries. No troubles. Just enjoying the moment she shared with them.


	5. Five: One Shall Fall

A soft moan escaped his lips, as he slowly opened his optics. Ratchet began to sit up but was struck by an unbearable pain around his chasis. He clenched his denta, grunting from the pain before slumping back down on the berth. This pain was all too familiar to him. He had injected himself with the incomplete formula of the Synthetic energon and arrogantly faced Megatron all by himself. And his cockiness gotten him wounded in the process. Ratchet felt such a fool, and to think he could be of any use for their team. He was just their medic.

"Ratchet." A soothing voice called out his name, which was right next to his left audio receptor. Turning his head to glance down at Lucy, whose small figure was close to his face plates. His optics widen.

Lucy's eyes began to water as she blinked several times for her to see him better, but her watery eyes wouldn't let her. Her quivering lips formed a relieved smile, yet her tears began to flow down her ivory complexion. She was glad he was still breathing. His little stunt worried her to the very bone, and it scared her deeply. Lucy hadn't realized that she had begun to sob uncontrollably, choking onto her breath as she covered her face with both hands.

Ratchet could only watch as the young femme began to quietly cry next to his face plates. He furrowed his brow-ridges' together, his lips forming a sorrowful frown. The girl wiped away her tears, yet more began to escape as it traveled down her cheeks. Her teary eyes focused onto his beautiful colored optics and smiled warmly.

"You're…alright.", her voice cracked, as the lump in her throat tightened. Her tears flooded like an endless river and began to sob uncontrollably. Ratchets' frown deepened, feeling more conflicted as he continued to watch her. "Do you have any idea how worried I've been?" She said, pressing her small hands onto his silvery metal features.

The girl's touch surprised him. His optics widening and his lips were slightly parted. Her dampen hands gently caressed his left cheek, as his lips twitched by the gentleness of her delicate fingers. The 'bots gaze relaxed. What happened next would have shocked the world. Ratchet raised his left servo as it ever so gently hovered over her, pulling her close towards his left side of his faceplates. Lucy's eyes shot open, surprised to feel the medics hand around her figure.

"I'm s-sorry." he stumbled over his words before continuing. "I did not know I worried you this much. Please don't cry." his soothing tone had calmed the femme underneath his servos, her slight trembling coming to a halt.

The girl sniffed, wiping away her tears with her long sleeved, cyan colored sweater. "Don't ever do something so reckless." She gently caressed his lower eyelid. His optics observing her slim face. "Promise me you won't do something like that."

She furrowed her eyebrows slightly, silently pleading with him. The thought of losing him was something she could not handle. She grimaced inwardly at the thought. His fingers curled around her, gently pushing her forward towards him. The girl happily complied, leaning on top of his 'L' curved metal. Pressing her forehead against the cold metal surface, a few strands of hair fell forward, tickling his cheek slightly.

He hesitated for a moment. Speaking softly. "I promise." Lucy smiled, relieved swept through her body. She closed her eyes, never moving from her position. He too shut his eyes, as he pressed his side of his helm gently on her forehead.

Both smiled, with their eyes firmly closed and keeping each other company. The rest of the group weren't present to witness them. Though, inwardly they were glad no one barged in on them. And soon enough, Lucy began to slowly fall asleep next to the 'bots head. Ratchet silently watched from the corner of his optics as she fell asleep. His eyes grew heavy and soon drifted off into a deep recharge, removing his servo that covered her tiny frame.

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Two days after his injury, the old 'bot was up and walking again. His armor now fully repaired along with an energon transfusion. Lucy was currently the only human in the base, usually, she would be around Ratchets side. Thus, today she has been occupied by her online classes. The girl was on the couch with her legs crossed, her laptop on top of her legs with earphones plugged in her ears. Listening intently to the Biology professor through her plugs and blocking all sounds from the outside. Thanks to Raf's knowledge of computers she could use the Wi-Fi inside the base with no trouble.

The weather outside has been somewhat chilly, so she wore some comfy clothes. She wore a green hooded sweatshirt, and underneath it was a white sleeveless shirt. Along with some red sweatpants, which had a circular logo located on her left femur. Lastly, she had black fluffy wooly warm boots.

Her hair was a mess, and she preferred it lose rather than tying it up. Which was time-consuming. Who could blame her? I mean, her hair length reaches down to her knees now, so it's extremely difficult to do anything and avoiding getting her hair getting stuck on things. She doesn't seem bothered by it at all, in fact, it's surprising that no one commented about her hair length. Not even the 'bots. Though, hair is something they are unfamiliar with and find it quite strange.

Lucy stared at the screen intently, unknowing that Ratchet has been sneaking a few glances towards her way from the main monitors. While Optimus stood on the other side of it, reciting aloud a passage from the covenant of primus. Which is foretelling that a perpetual conflict will culminate when the forty-seven spheres align.

"And the weak shall perish in the shadow of a rising darkness." Optimus finished the last sentence of the covenant, staring at the screen before him. As Arcee stepped forward, standing behind the old medic. "No skies raining fire?" She asked. Placing her servo on her hip.

Ratchets gaze drifted towards the screen, "Goes without say. It is a doom prophecy after all." he narrowed his eyes, observing the screen in front of him. Bulkhead spoke, clearly not convinced by the prophecy. "I say it's a load of hooey." he waved his servo nonchalantly.

The old 'bot turned around, facing the wrecker and the two-wheeler. "I always assumed the ancients were referring to our home planet, but being that Cybertron has been dark for eons." his optics moved away from the two, landing onto the floor before glancing at Optimus who spoke. "And considering what has befallen this planet since Megatron's arrival here."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Bulkhead interrupted, waving his hands in protest. "We've known about these superstitions for ages and never gave them a second thought!"

"Wild ominous rumblings now?" Arcee questioned, her gaze landing onto the prime. "Because the planetary alignment to which the prophecy refers is nearly upon us." The primes faceplates hardened ever so slightly.

"And it would seem it's endpoint is earth." Ratchet raised his helmet, staring off into the screen where he observed a map of the solar system upon the monitor. Earth being what he laid eyes on.

Bulkhead and Arcee turned their heads towards each other, looking a bit perplexed. Well, mostly Bulkhead. "Uhh…crazy coincidence!" he pointed both of his index fingers towards the medic. "Heh…r-right?" stuttering his words before slightly lowering his pointed fingers. Arcee then proceeded to ask as she stepped forward. "How long are we talking?"

Ratchet turned around, staring at the femme. His brow-ridges slightly frowned. "A few days at most," he stated, which cause both Arcee and Bulkhead to glance at each other.

"However, unsettling as this revelation may be. I am more concerned about those who might believe that the prophecy speaks to them alone." Optimus explained. His gaze becoming more serious.

After their gathering, both Arcee and Bulkhead left the base to look for their humans. Bumblebee hadn't been around, and that was because he left long ago to pick up Raf from school.

Everything was quiet around the headquarters. Ratchet was at his work area next to Lucy who was now watching a video that was Biology related, and Optimus was standing in front of the main monitors. While Ratchet was typing away on his monitor, he was secretly snuck a few glances towards the girl whose attention was drawn by the screen of her laptop. He slightly frowned, as he pouted, well…almost. So, he decided to call out the girls' name, but to no avail.

"Lucy." Nothing. Ratchet soon became impatient. "Lucy!" the old 'bot raised his voice box, which was loud enough to make Optimus shield his sensitive audio receptors.

The poor girl jumped out of her seat in alarm, dropping her laptop along with her earphone plopped out of her ears. She swiftly stumbled forward to catch the laptop as it almost slipped out of her grasp. Somehow, she managed to catch it before it fell, though she ended up on top of the small sofa. Her elbows rested on top of the sofas rail, while her forearms were outstretched holding onto her laptop, and her legs were sprawled upon the cushion. She looked ridiculous.

Lucy's startled features softened, closing her eyes and sighed in relief. Although, the moment was cut short when she heard someone clearing their throat. Opening her eyes as her gaze landed onto the medic whose face expressed a look of annoyance, though his eyes told her a different story. Slowly she glanced over to where Optimus was. His optics wide, mouth slightly agape. The prime stood there in bewilderment. Who knew a human could move in such a graceless manner.

She let out a nervous laugh. A tiny drop of sweat appearing on her cheek. "Whoops...my bad." She carefully placed her laptop and her earphones on top of the wooden table. Ratchet shook his helm, before questioning the girl. "What on earth were you doing?"

Her eyes landed onto Ratchet whose gaze showed displeasure. "I was attending my online course, and the professor requires us to listen to him. Which is why I-um…well, I couldn't hear you." She smiled nervously. Earning a scoff from the 'bot. "Why is the class important to be attending to anyways?"

Ratchet rolled his optics, unknowing the girls face became serious. Her brows furrowed slightly. "Because I am studying to become a Doctor." She declared, and to Ratchets utter surprise. He gasped as he now stared at her with wide optics. "It's important for me." She whispered softly.

When Ratchet was about to speak, a loud honk was heard, interrupting what he was about to say. Lucy turned her head around and saw Bulkhead, Bumblebee, and Arcee as their three humans exited their vehicles before transforming. All the young teens, mainly Miko, pounced on her which almost made her fall. Greeting her with a playful nudge. As the two boys huddled around her and were now talking to each other.

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Night had soon fallen across Nevada. Within the base, the three teens were huddled together on the sofa, and Lucy was quietly reading a book on the small loveseat. Optimus was standing in front of the main monitors while Ratchet was tapping away in the med bay.

Jack and Rafael were glued to the young boys' laptop. Which they were scrolling down the page they were in. It was a conspiracy website they were looking at, and with each picture, they saw Jack would wave it off. Stating that they were fake or is simply a prank, basically, he found an explanation behind the image. As Raf was scrolling down he landed on a picture of Bumblebee in his vehicle form.

"The camera sure loves, bee." Jack leaned closer to the screen, his eyes landing on Raf. "What can you do? When you're a superstar your paparazzi bait!" Miko gestured with both hands, a raised pinkie and index; which is normally called the horns.

"Wait, is that bumblebee?" Ratchet leaned to side as he viewed the picture from where he was. "On a conspiracy website where users post evidence of close encounters, but we have it under control Ratchet!" Raf reassured him with thumbs up. "We just scrub and replace bee with-"

An animated image appears on the screen where the picture of Bumblebee used to be. The moving image then spoke out in a silly tone. "Mars Cats says, 'Take me to your feeder!'"

Lucy smiled at the sound of the squeaky voice, but what surprised her most was Ratchet. She wasn't the only one who stared at him in disbelief. He laughed. It was a short one, yet the sound he emitted was pleasant and it made her chest flutter.

"Did Ratchet actually laughed?" Miko looked over towards Jack and Raf. Her eyes landed onto Lucy for a moment before landing back to the Autobot medic.

Ratchet averted his gaze elsewhere. Shifting nervously from his workstation. His optics landed onto Lucy, and to his surprise, she was staring back at him with a smile on her lips. Ratchet forced back a smile, his optics drifting down at his screen. He could hear the femmes muffled giggles which made his metal cheeks heat up slightly from embarrassment.

Jack's gaze landed onto the Autobot leader. "Uh, Optimus. You wanna see something funny?" almost immediately the prime rejected the boys offer rather flatly. "No."

"Don't take it personally," Arcee spoke out of the blue. Walking behind Ratchet with Bulkhead doing the same. "Prime are built that way." She crossed her folded her arms together. "Haven't seen Optimus laugh, cry, nor lose his cool," Bulkhead added.

"While Optimus certainly keeps his emotions in check. I've known him far longer than any of you have," Ratchet turned his head slightly to the side towards Arcee. Then turning his gaze towards Optimus. "and he was different before he was made a prime."

"Optimus wasn't always a prime?" Raf asked, slightly curious. "How come?" Lucy too asked, tilting her head to the side slightly and closing her book in the process. "On Cybertron, one isn't born into greatness rather one must earn it." Ratchet said.

Miko then spoke. "So, different how? We talking party animal?" She wriggled her arms in a circular motion. Ratchet simply waved her off with his left servo. "No, no. Optimus was more like…"

The old 'bots' optics searched for the right person to compare them to Optimus. His optics first landed onto Lucy. In all honesty, she is by far a perfect and strong example to point out towards the children's. Though, in the end, he chose not to compare her to Optimus, even though they shared similar standards he didn't think of her that way. She was unique in his optics. Ratchets gaze landed onto Jack who was facing the other way. "Like Jack."

Everyone's eyes landed on the boy who had a surprised expression writing across his face. "What? I-I'm nothing like Optimus-" Jack was cut off by a loud beep and a man's voice was heard throughout the room. "Prime!"

Lucy turned her head around to where Optimus was and up on the monitor. A man's face appeared on the screen, and he did not look happy. As she observes him longer many questions swirled her mind. She hadn't seen him before, nor did the others mention his name. Maybe he was the Autobots designated liaison.

"Those tech heights my department's been tracking. We figured it was mech on account their stealth tactics, until moments ago, when a security feed at the Pennington herbs particle collider captured this."

An image appeared on the left screen showing a faceless Cybertronian being. Lucy stood up to take a closer look at it, and it was indeed one of the Decepticons. Though, she didn't know who it was. That was when Jack said the 'bots name aloud.

"Soundwave." Jack walked further away standing right on top of the three large monitors. "Raf can swap that out for you with a funny cat." Miko smiled hiding her hands behind her back.

"The 'con without a face made off with a cutting edge phase conductor. Here's a lunch list of everything else we've confirmed stolen to date." The man sent a top-secret file on the monitor to the right with lists of the items stolen by the Decepticons.

"Plasma Injector, Neutron Shield, Tesseract?" Ratchet said as he read the final item on the list before speaking again. "There's only one thing missing if they are intending to build- "

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"The Decepticon Space bridge 2.0 is nearly ready to launch." Knockout gracefully announced to his leader. "All we require is-" he was then interrupted by Soundwave who had an image of the item they were currently missing.

Knockout glanced over to the faceless Decepticon, who was next to him before turning his gaze back to Megatron. "What Soundwave said, an ample power source."

The warships large screen revealed a detailed map of a facility where the missing piece was located.

"This one lies within a high fortified location. By human standards." Arachnid spoke. Her spider-looking appendages were located on her back, and her piercing purple eyes would make anyone run away. "I can tunnel in." She said, but not before their leader turned towards her and proceeded to raise his voice. "The time of prophecy is nearly upon us!" he clenched his right servo into a fist.

Arachnid backed away, slightly shocked, and turned her head towards knockout who did the same. The Decepticon leader was fuming with impatience which was written across his faceplates, yet it was accompanied by irritation. "We can no longer afford stealth."

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In the afternoon, Lucy was occupying the base along with Jack and Miko. Rafael was out with Bumblebee, and the others were retrieving a stolen piece from the Decepticons. She is lucky to have the whole weekend off and is happily wasting her time by reading a book, like always. Though, today she wanted to do something different and played video games with the other two. It was her first time touching a controller and she lost several times, but it was fun none the less.

Everything was normal, but that didn't last too long when Optimus's voice echoed through the comm link system. The prime sounded extremely concern, yet he kept his voice firm and calm while addressing the medic. "Ratchet, bridge us back now!"

Lucy immediately stood up from the sofa and made her way to the railing next to the main monitors and the staircase. Her worried gaze landed onto Ratchet who was mumbling to himself, no one heard him except for her. Hearing his words loud and clear through her ears that caused her heart to run cold.

"We must have an Autobot down."

Ratchet opened the ground bridge and waited for the fallen autoboot to enter. Lucy kept her eyes on the portal and could feel Jack and Miko's presence beside her. She felt anxious and it was eating her as the minutes went by. Ratchet stepped forward and watched Bumblebee and Arce enter from the portal, but she was cradling someone in her arms. It was Rafael. Lucy covered her mouth with both hands, eyes widening and gasping in horror.

"Raf!?" Jack exclaimed. Staring down at the unconscious boy. Miko too saw Raf in an awful state. "No!"

"What happened?" Ratchet questioned the two-wheeler and approached her. Arcee raised her gaze towards the autoboot medic "Megatron." Ratchet then spoke. "Quickly. Into my laboratory!"

She followed behind the old 'bot who was preparing an emergency sick bay for Raf. Lucy ran down the stairs and quickly pulled out a gurney. Arcee gently laid the young boy down onto the gurney before backing away. Bumblebee stood behind the gurney and the scout kneeled in sadness. Lucy took out an autoboot designed heart monitor where she then placed the end inside of Rafael's shirt and onto his chest. She quickly went to work in checking any possible signs of him responding.

As the heart monitor beeped normally, Rafael was still unresponsive. She furrowed her brows. This wasn't good. The boy had a small fever, but it was gradually increasing by the minute. Lucy told Miko to grab a bucket of cold water along with a towel, basically anything to use. She complied and ran off into the hallway where a small bucket was, as she filled it with water. Arcee found a worn-out towel as Miko entered the room with a bucket of water in hand. Lucy dumped the towel into the bucket, then squeezing the excess water out and gently placed it on top of Raf's forehead.

"He has a minor fever. Nothing too serious." Lucy stated, in a soft tone. She observed Raf's breathing and noticed he was having some difficulty. Gently, Lucy caressed the boys' cheek. He was as cold as ice!

Jack stood next to Lucy and worriedly stared down at Raf. Ratchet, on the other hand, was beginning to lose his patience and grunted. "Ugh, Rafael isn't responding!" the medic said, whilst grabbing some of his tools which weren't suitable for treating a human. "We must run diagnostics of his assemblages, uhh, vital statistics." A sudden realization hit him of the tools he had chosen. "My tools! They're all wrong!" he threw them to the floor, which was accompanied by a loud crash.

Bumblebee beeped sorrowfully, lowering his helmet. The poor scout felt so useless, as he stared down at Raf. Jack moved away and took out his phone. "We need to call my mom." He proceeded to dial her number on speed dial.

Lucy didn't want to question Jack's decision, but if he must call his mother then let it be. She refuses to let Raf suffer like this. Her eyes landed onto Ratchet, he had his face plates covered by his left arm as he spoke, mainly towards Jack. "Your mother may be a nurse but does she know anything about the effects of energon on the human body.?!"

Jack turned around to face Ratchet and practically raised his voice. "Do you know anything about the human body?!" This caused Ratchet optics to widen with his mouth slight agape before closing shut. Looking away from Jack who then walked away to answer to his mother on the other line.

The medics arms went down limply. Starring down at the floor, then raise his gaze to where Raf was. He didn't notice Lucy's stare directly at him, as he then recited part of the prophecy. "The weak shall perish. Be strong Rafael."

Ratchet's optics drifted down towards his peds, feeling a warm touch by someone, and that someone was Lucy. Looking up at him with worry written across her face. He furrowed his brow-ridges with a slight frown. It pained him to see that look on her face. Lucy then formed a small smile, as she motioned him to come with her towards Raf. He quickly nodded, walking over to the unconscious boy. The old 'bot kneeled down in front of the gurney before scanning the boy. That was when nurse Darby came running pass him and Lucy.

"Measuring the extent of the absorption should determine the proper course of treatment." Ratchet stood up on all peds, staring down at the nurse who was checking on Raf. The woman turned her head to face Ratchet not looking all too pleased. "If I don't get this boy stabilized now, he will not leave this table alive, do you understand me?"

Ratchet's mouth hung open, but said nothing and looked away. Lucy stayed silent and watched the nurse work on Raf. Jack came up to the opposite side of the gurney with a bag. That was when Bumblebee beeped rather angrily, punching the wall beside him. Everyone was startled by the scout's sudden outburst. Arcee basically threw herself towards him, holding onto Bumblebees shoulder-pads.

"Bee, listen! You think I don't know how it feels to watch a partner…harmed." She took a quick glance over to Raf then back to Bumblebee. "Revenge won't help Raf right now. You need to keep your emotions in check."

Bumblebee sadly looked towards Raf being attended by the nurse. He beeped slowly, placing his left servo on his helmet as it covered most of his faceplates. Lucy frowned, clasping her hands together and placing them on her chest. She now stood in front of the gurney and watched the nurse quietly.

Ratchet watched from where he stood when his thoughts were interrupted by Optimus communicating him from a private comm link. "Ratchet, how is Rafael?" the prime asked, calmly yet concern was hinted within his deep voice. "It is too soon to know for sure." Ratchet replied. "He is in good hands."

The Autobot medic glanced over to the others huddling around Raf. "Not mine, Optimus." he swiftly turned around, facing away from the others. "Curse my Cybertronian pride! We've accepted these humans into our lives, yet I bothered so little to learn about their science nor medicine." A deep frown formed across his faceplates.

"Pull yourself together old friend. Rafael needs you." Ratchet turns away, clenching his servos into a fist. "And I have grown to need him.", "Lock onto my coordinates and activate the ground bridge."

Everyone silently watched Miss Darby using her Stethoscope on an unconscious Raf. Bumblebee had a notable frown upon his faceplates and the others stood close by in silence as the heart monitor beeped throughout the tense atmosphere. Lucy stood next to Miko with both hands hovering on her cleavage. By the looks of things, Miss Darby didn't look all too pleased.

"Jack, help me get Raf to the car he is going to the emergency room," June said as she removed her stethoscope. Ratchet then spoke, "Nurse Darby, your doctors won't be able to comprehend what's affecting him not without a decade of study" she waved him off, "I don't have time to argue!"

Jack walked over to the gurney placing both hands on the metal bars of it. Meanwhile, Ratchet swiftly turned around to face his monitor screen of Rafael's anatomy and next to it was his heartbeat in which he was monitoring.

"The effects of an energon blast on an Autobot can be devastating enough, but this is a human!", soon after tapping away on the monitor he had discovered a chilling realization. "I'm not getting any readings. How could I not have seen this," he said aloud for the others to hear. He turned around with a deep frown written across his faceplates, "Rafael's been infected with dark energon."

The others in the room had widened their eyes from the displeasing news that Ratchet had announced. Lucy instinctively cupped her mouth with both hands and her eyes began to quiver slightly. The room went deadly silent still the heart monitor continued beeping like usual. Nurse Darby gazed down at Raf with a concerned look as Ratchet was kneeled in front of the gurney scanning Raf with his right arm when finally Ratchet broke the silence.

"If dark energon is devouring Raf from the inside out we must expel it and fast. The only possible way I know." as he finished with his scan Ratchet stood up then he proceeded to grab a giant empty cylinder. "I need energon!"

June was taken back by this. "Wait! you said energon was devastating to humans." Ratchet gaze down at Nurse Darby. "Under normal circumstances, quite, but I am relying upon the dark matter currently invading Rafael's body to meet it head on."

Suddenly Raf's heart monitor began to beat rapidly. While Ratchet was extracting energon from the young scout, who willingly offered his energon, he swiftly motioned his hand towards the cylinder-shaped repair room, "I need him over here, now!"

Jack and his mother pushed the gurney inside the room placing Raf in the middle of it. Lucy, Miko, Jack and Nurse Darby were now stood right up against the closed door looking through the clear glass. Ratchet hurriedly clicked a few buttons before pulling up the lever in which the machine activated. The loud beeping of the heart monitor was piercing through their ears until it died down as it was replaced by an odd sound of energon being flowed inside the room. The room began to glow, as well as, the energon and unknowingly Lucy's neckless begun to respond the same way, but was hidden inside her clothing. Soon the light got brighter to the point where everyone had to cover their sensitive eyes from it then the light suddenly engulfed them all in a matter of seconds. Every piece of equipment began to beep uncontrollably at the same time. This caused Lucy to open her eyes widen in shock and gasp silently in horror, but not from the light, no, what she was experiencing was a vision. She could hardly describe the image before her and she couldn't tell if it was real or just a hallucination. A fearful and a mixture of terror was written across her face. The vision before her eyes made her blood run cold. It was Optimus on the ground, helpless, and on top of him was an intimidating enemy with a smirk written across his faceplates and his ped against the primes' chest plate ready for the finishing blow.

 **To Be Continued...**


	6. Six: One Shall Rise I

A big weight has been lifted knowing that Rafael was now fully awake and very much alive after Ratchet had successfully expelled the Dark energon invading the boy's body. Everyone had a smile filled with relief on their faces except for Lucy, who was staring off into space. As the minutes passed by Lucy's concern for Optimus plagued her mind like a swarm of bees. Her features caught Jack's attention and asked if she was doing alright, but before she could respond, Ratchets voice boomed in alarm as he then activated the ground ridge. Bulkhead was the first to run in the vortex before Ratchet and Arcee quickly followed the wreckers lead.

Her blood went cold and she feared the worst for what will come through the vortex. She stood up and pressed both hands against her chest hoping that the vision she saw earlier were nothing more than silly hallucinations.

When four familiar figures appeared from the vortex she exhaled in utter relief. Optimus looked fatigued and could barely keep his footing while Bulkhead and Ratchet help him reach to the med bay. Optimus passed by until finally being sat down on the large metal sized bed beside the gurney where Raf was occupying, along with nurse Darby and Lucy stood next to him. The prime glanced over to them and his optics landed onto Raf. A smile formed on the primes lips.

"Hey," Rafael said in a weak but audible voice smiling up at Optimus. June raised her gaze towards the prime with her eyebrows furrowed, a serious expression written across her face. "He's lucky to be alive."

Optimus's smile quickly faded into a frown. Lucy stared at him sympathetically after seeing his faceplates change. She walked over to his right servo and gently placed her hand on his index finger. He immediately gazed down and his optics landed onto Lucy staring at him, with a soft and reassuring look written in her eyes. Optimus, felt like he was hypnotized by the way her eyes penetrated to his very core, yet this feeling only lasted for a few seconds before responding to her with a curt nod.

"Megatron found more of the dark stuff?" Jack said while walking down the stairs. "A volcano full." Arcee pointed out, then Bulkhead chimed in. "The question is how?" Ratchet then joined in on the conversation. "No. The question is what, as is, what in the world is the blood of Unicron doing here on earth?"

"The 'cons killed a unicorn?" Miko asked wholeheartedly and glanced over to the others.

Optimus, Bulkhead, Arcee, and Lucy stared at Miko with a dumbfounded look on their faces by her statement. It was an awkward silence before Miko proceeded to explain briefly of what a unicorn was to them. Her explanation was perfect in many ways, but Ratchet quickly corrected her.

"Unicron. An ancient evil whose fossilized blood comprises the matter which we call Dark energon. As legend, would have it." he stated and turned his helm over to where June, Raf, and Lucy stood. "So, you're saying this Unicron is some kind of Boogey man?" June asked raising her brow questionably.

This stumped Ratchet and repeated the two exact last words she had told him "Boogey man?" Miko suddenly began to briefly explain in which he turned to face her. "Make belief creepy guy who hides in your closet."

Ratchet's lips grew thin furrowing his brow-ridges before turning around to face June. "No nurse Darby. Unicorn is very real...um...was." she stepped forward with her arms crossed in front of her chest. "That is- Well I do believe he once existed I just don't subscribe to the theory that he is primordial lifeform is the substance which-" he momentarily paused before continuing with a slight frown "harmed Raf."

June finally decided it was too much and motioned with both hands for the conversation to halt and not wanting to go any further than what was explained. "I've heard enough." she placed her hands on the metal bars on Raf's gurney raising it up and began to pull it. "Jack, please, help me get Raf into the car."

Bumblebee began to beep in confusion as the young scout watched his human companion being rolled away. Jack began to follow his mother, and this caused Lucy to do the same action but not what the mother thought it was.

"Mom, I thought he was doing better," Jack said to his mother. He sounded stunned. His mother, however, turned her head over her shoulder to look at her son. "Raf needs to be examined by 'real' doctors-"

Lucy caught sight of Ratchet slumping his shoulder pads and a deep frown plastered across his faceplates. She instinctively walked over to him to where she stood beside his left leg and placing her hand onto the cold metal. Ratchet's optics drifted down towards her tiny figure where she stared at him with a comforting gaze. There was no smile and the look in her eyes says it all. His optics soften ever so slightly for only her to see, to which she replied with a soft nudge onto the metal surface of his leg,

"and Raf's family needs to know what's happened," June turned her head around to the others before finally saying. "His Real family!"

Jack took a step forward and spoke. "Mom! Raf's family can't protect him. Not like they can." he motioned his hand towards the 'bots behind him.

Optimus slowly began to stand up from the berth. Knowing how weak he is being exposed to a massive amount of dark energon he still managed to stand up as he slowly walked forward. " June, it deeply grieves me that I have failed." he briefly paused before continuing "But I will do everything in my power to ensure that no harm comes to our human friends or any human ever again."

June stopped in her tracks and began to speak. Raising her head to face them. "Optimus...they're children. They do not belong in your world. They should be worrying about grades, prom dates, pimples—not their own survival!"

"Mom, Dark Energon is pouring out of the earth. It doesn't do that! This could be about everyone's survival, not just ours!" Jack said to his mother, yet she just ignored him before she finally declared. "You're coming with me all four of you, and they will not be coming back!"

Lucy froze from where she stood. Never coming back? The thought of leaving them forever made her shudder mentally. Her heart began to ache like pins and needles being pricked onto her flesh then down to her very core. She couldn't leave them, she couldn't leave...him. Lucy refused to just simply walk away and forget they ever existed and expected to forget the memories she shared with them. She never even moved from her spot after June had declared she was going to take us all away from this place.

Optimus felt like a giant needle the size of a sword stabbed him right into his spark. Never seeing the humans was something he disapproved almost immediately, yet he had to accept reality. This meant that he won't be able to protect Lucy. One of the first humans to ever peek his interest since the day he first spotted her while he was driving around town to clear his thoughts. The human who he saved from two decepticons' and he willingly became her guardian in which he did not mind. Her very existence made him feel like a strong bond had formed between himself and Ratchet as well. She had an impact in his life and yet, he simply did not want to let this go.

He finally snapped out of his thought and simply said. "I understand."

"That's it?" Optimus looked down and watched Miko approach him "After all we've been through together?" she then gestured a goodbye wave. "See ya?! What about our freedom to choose?"

"That may fly on their planet but not here on earth," June said while helping Rafael climb inside the back of her car. Her eyes drifted its attention towards Jack, Miko, and Lucy, gesturing her arm for them to hop on. "Get in." She said with authority.

Miko scoffed with her arms folded and rolled her eyes. "Tsk, do you really expect me to ride on a non-transforming vehicle?" June narrowed her eyes towards the young Japanese girl. "Miko, I'm serious." Miko then retorted "You're not my mother." Bulkhead stepped forward calling out his little friends' name "Miko." Miko looked over her shoulder. "Neither are you!" Bulkhead flinched by her words and stared at her with wide optics but said nothing.

June stepped away from the car and began to walk forward then stopped half-way. "Well, I am yours. Let's go, Jack."

Arcee's' footsteps came to a halt and now stood behind the two teens. Jack turned around to face her while furrowing his brows. "She is your mom."

Jack's eyes drifted down as it landed onto his mom who had a serious expression written across her face expecting for him to follow. Though, this was not the case. Jack didn't move from where he stood and pondered to himself. Soon enough he made up his mind and stared at his mother with a slightly stern look on his face before finding the courage to speak up. "I'm staying. I'm sorry." His gaze landed onto the floor not wanting to see his mothers' reaction.

June was stunned by this and her eyes widen slightly. She was disgruntled and the only person left that she was taking with her was Lucy. Her blue eyes landed on the British girl who stood beside Ratchet's left leg, and it appeared that she was hiding from her. Junes' eyes studied Lucy's' attire and she seemed to be feeling uneasy by her intense stare and quickly averted her gaze towards the metal leg beside her. Lucy wore a beige colored sweater with large pockets on either side of it and it had a deep V-neck opening, which showed off her smoky rose colored knitted halter tank top underneath it and a white scarf hung neatly around her neck. She had on a beige colored knitted beanie. Her hair hung freely without any bands. Finally, she had ebony colored leggings which were the same color as the converse she wore and a few silver bracelets on her left wrist.

"Lucy," June called out her name. Lucy shyly glanced over to June who was waiting for her to follow. "Let's go and I won't take no for an answer," June added which made Lucy feel tense. She exhaled a shaky breath before finally speaking in a calm and heartily manner. "I'd love to go with you Miss Darby I really do, but I just can't leave the people that mean so much to me. " Lucy paused, placing both hands on her chest before continuing. "I'm sorry, but I'm not leaving."

Lucy watched Junes' eyes widen in shock before her expression changed which appeared to look like she was about to flip out but she stormed off instead. Closing the back-seat door with a loud bang. Optimus told Ratchet to open a ground-bridge, but June quickly denied the offer and drove off into the tunnel. Bumblebee was deeply sorrowful as he watched the vehicle disappear further into the tunnel. Suddenly, the monitors began to receive a call from Agent Fowler who began to speak and a video cam popped up into the screen.

"Prime, do you copy?" Optimus quickly replied and walked over to the main monitors. "I hear you, Agent Fowler." "Been watching the news? Mother nature's got a twitch in her breeches." Optimus then responded "We know about the volcano." but then Agent Fowler added something that stunned all of us. "and the quakes? Seven major temblors of the exact same magnitude at the exact same time as a volcanic eruption." he proceeded to continue "All over the globe on different tectonic plates, in theory, unrelated if they haven't happened- "

"At the exact same time." Ratchet finished fowlers sentence before Miko called out to everyone "Check it out! More good news." Miko pressed the unmute button where the male broadcaster began to talk with concern.

Lucy clasped both hands onto her mouth as she watched the TV in utter shock. Awful storms plagued around the globe where many urban cities were having a massive power outage which left them in total darkness. Everyone in the room watched in silence before the broadcaster ended it with an unanswered question, What next? For a moment, she had completely forgotten that Fowler was still there up on the screen and listening to the TV before he broke the silence.

"Don't tell me the 'cons have built a weather machine!" Ratchet waived his right servo, quickly dismissing that notion "One that powerful? Highly unlikely." Optimus then spoke. "I do not believe the appearance of dark energon at this point in time to be coincidental."

A few minutes had gone by, the sounds of a familiar muscle car were heard appearing from the tunnel where Raf and June stepped out of Bumblebee in which he soon transformed. Ratchet told Raf how glad they were to be back safe and sound. Lucy swiftly ran down the stairs and practically glomped Rafael, holding him in a tight and warm embrace. Ratchet observed their heartwarming reunion which made him smile unconsciously, though he manages to hide it before anyone saw.

"World leaders are classifying these bizarre weather patterns as a global emergency." the broadcaster said as June stood there after running up the stairs. "Global?!" she exclaimed in awe. -As scientist believe the phenomenon to be somehow related to the current planetary alignment- then the TV cuts off abruptly and the screens fade to black.

Suddenly, Agent Fowler appears from behind the TV from where the elevator doors opened as he began to walk forward and speaking directly to Optimus. "What have you learned, Prime? and you better not blow a smoke up my-" he stopped in mid-sentence as his gaze landed on June. He was surprised to see her here and he nervously spoke. "M-Miss Darby. What a nice surprise!" June smiled. "Special Agent Fowler."

"We have learned this as with the so-called magma from the volcano these earthquakes originated far below the earth's crust. From the very center of the earth's core, in fact." Ratchet announced by showing off the information on the left screen of the monitor. Agent Fowler was dumbfounded. "Quakes don't start there!" he pointed out as June now stood next to him in front of the railing. He turns his head towards June with a questionable look on his face. "Do they?"

"Tiny tremors rising and falling in a consistent pattern almost like..." Ratchet stopped as he now stared at the screen in deep thought. His brow ridges furrowed slightly together as he concentrated narrowing his eyes before finally, it hit him. Ratchet eyes widen in disbelief and exclaimed softly. "By the Allspark! If I convert these data-points to audio files..." he trailed off and began to click away from the buttons. Lucy approached the railing, where the human-sized computers were, as she observed Ratchet quietly.

"What? what is it?" Agent Fowler questioned the 'bot eagerly, yet Ratchet simply replied with a single word. "Listen."

The two audios were slowly coming together until finally, it merged. The sound of a constant rhythm was played loudly as it echoed throughout the silent atmosphere. Everyone was staring intently at the screen and listening to the sound as it continued to beat in a familiar rhythm. Lucy's eyes widen, the shock caused her to cover up her mouth with her right hand. Optimus's eyes widened with his mouth slight agape as he stared at the screen with a stunned look across his face-plates. Lucy managed to mutter out the words from her lips. "A heartbeat."

"A Cybertronian heartbeat?" Jack said in confusion. His mother turned her head around to face him "How is that possible? A heart pumps blood there's nothing inside the earth to pump except..." "Blood of Unicron!" Rafael blurted out.

"Okay, hold on. You mean somethings living down there inside our planet?" Miko glanced over to Optimus. "I fear that the earth's very core is not comprised of nickel and iron as your scientist's suggested but of Dark Energon." Optimus declared as Ratchet then began to speak. "And if we're hearing a spark then Unicron is the raising darkness that the prophecy foretold." he had his finger against his chin.

"So, how do we stop this 'thing' from rising?" Agent Fowler questioned them, and Optimus was the first to reply but with a slight downfall. "That I am afraid was not foretold."

"How can something be in our earth's core and be alive?" June gestured her hand towards the monitors. "Such a thing is not unprecedented. Before the beginning...there was Primus. And there was Unicron. One, the incarnation of creation—the other...of destruction. For eons, Primus and Unicron battled, the balance of power shifting between them more times than could be counted. Only by creating the Thirteen—the original Primes who preceded me—was Primus finally able to defeat Unicron and cast him out. Primus became one with the very core of our planet, creating life through the Well of All Sparks, while Unicron was never to be heard from again...until now. " he finished the tale.

"Maybe we can find the hole this uber 'con left when he dug himself all the way down there and fill it with explosives!" Agent Fowler said, which made Lucy facepalm, gently. Optimus turned his head over to Ratchet then back at Fowler. "Agent Fowler, I do not believe that earth became Unicron's home, but rather that with time and gravitational force debris collected around the slumbering titan." Ratchet told him the obvious, glancing over at Fowler. "Forming your earth itself."

"And he is only awakening now due to the magnetic pull created by the planetary alignment!" Arcee exclaimed.

"Okay well, what happens now when Unicron wakes up from his billion-year nap?" Jack folded his arms with a raised brow. "Yeah, does he stretch and KA-POW! Earth poofs to dust?" Miko said while she mimicked the explosion when a person stretches.

Optimus was speechless and, in all honesty, he doesn't know what will happen to the earth when Unicron fully awakens. Lucy was now sat down on an armless chair next to the computer monitors staring up at the screen where the audio was still playing, but the volume was lowered. Her breathing was labored but kept it hidden from the others, not wanting to worry them. The cause of this was a dark an ominous presence that lingered in the air, which no one else but her could feel, sent goose bumps down her spine. Her necklace reacted to this by gradually warming up her chest which seemed to help stop her labored breathing, but it couldn't make the evil presence disappear.

"you don't know do you?" June said with her hand hovering near her chin. "My guess is that Unicron has transcended physical form as we know it. Nonetheless, we must find a way to ensure this force of nature never fully awakens. The fate of your planet depends upon it." his brow-ridges furrowed together and his face became sterner than ever.

...

...

...

...

...

The loud roars of a familiar jet flew past the darkened skies reaching its destination towards the lip of the volcano. The Decepticon leader transformed and began to beseech for Unicron to speak to him. Unicron appears before him in a cloud of purple smoke that emanated within the volcano. Unicron is unimpressed with Megatron and suddenly senses the taints of Primus.

"What is this I sense? The taints of Primus? Here?!" Unicron is shocked that the Primes are still living. Megatron then speaks. "That is Optimus, the last of the Primes, our sworn enemy." Unicron grows weary and narrows his eyes in suspicion. "Really now? How come I sense two of the primes here!? You profess loyalty to me, yet allow the disciples of Primus to live?!" he yells angrily at Megatron who seemed stumped. Two primes? It couldn't be possible and he quickly dismissed the fact that there was another prime other than Optimus. " I will destroy him for you! His screams will be heard —" Unicron suddenly interrupts him. " I grow weary of your prattle. Surely if you had the power to destroy the Primes, you would have done so already. I will deal with them myself. " with that, he vanishes into the volcano. The smokes of the volcano growing thin than when he was present.

Meanwhile, Optimus scouts one of the locations where a quake has struck and confirms that, like the others, it's rich in metals. Ratchet warns him of an increase in spark activity, and a few moments later, Unicron himself appears to Optimus as a huge, stone being. Optimus asks Unicron to consider the many humans inhabiting Earth who rely on Unicron, but Unicron considers them parasites and opts to strike Optimus with lightning instead. Optimus retaliates, blasting Unicron until the stone golem falls and crumbles into the ground. Optimus has not won, however, as more Unicrons burst out of the ground all around him.

 **To be Continued...**


	7. Seven: One Shall Rise II

"Optimus! Have you uncovered any further sign of Unicron's emergence? _"_ Ratchet asked, and his response was the many Unicrons voices on the other end of the comm-link. " **Unicron is power incarnate, and you, a disciple of Primus, shall perish!"** Ratchet blinked, surprised to hear the Chaos Bringers voice. "I take that as a yes. We are on our way!" he announced and turned around to make way for the ground-bridge but stopped when Optimus spoke.

"Negative! Unicron cannot be defeated by sheer force— he wants _me_ , Ratchet." In the open air and surrounded by Unicrons mountain rock forms he activated his ion blasters. "This fight must be mine alone." he declared before cutting off his comm-link.

Lucy stared at Optimus's picture as it disappears from the screen. The sound of the ground bridge activating caught her attention and looked over her shoulder to see Bulkhead, Arcee, and Bumblebee sprinting into the vortex before it closes behind them. Ratchet made his way over to the main control panel when suddenly the many voices of Team Prime were heard through the comm-link system. Everyone in the room listened to the teams' conversation that's when Optimus tells them that Unicron can find him anywhere, so even if he hid at the base, it would only be a matter of time before the Chaos Bringer located him. Bulkhead then asks him to let them take the lead.

"Please, listen to reason! If you don't survive Optimus, I fear neither will this planet." Ratchet begged, a worrisome look across his face plates. "Very well." the primes deep voice was heard as he finally gave into Ratchets insistence.

Lucy let out a relieving sigh and the tension from her muscles relaxed. Ratchet glanced over to his right where she was sitting on an armless chair with both of her eyes closed. He extended his right arm towards her as his index finger gently touched her left shoulder. She was caught off guard by this, opening her eyes and turning her head to the side where Ratchet stared at her. His turquoise colored optics penetrated her lilac ones, and the way he stared at her was enough to make her blush. But the moment was cut short when Arcee's voice was heard. "Ratchet!"

"What is it, what happened?" he asked, but his question was answered by a familiar voice that belonged to none other than Megatron himself. "I happened!" Bulkhead exclaimed in response, "Megatron!?"

Miko somehow appeared next to Lucy, which made the poor girl jump up from her chair. "King Kong's there too?!" Ratchets grumbled, his face plates becoming distasteful by the news, "He has aligned himself with Unicron!" Arcee quickly responded "Don't be so sure. Megatron just saved Optimus's tailpipe." Ratchet's optics widen and his mouth agape half way.

Lucy shook her head after the surprising scare that Miko had done. Though, she's sure that Miko didn't mean to, not in a situation like this. Soon enough, everyone else gathered around her. Agent Fowler stood to her right and June stood on the opposite side. This was the first time she got to meet Fowler in person, yet he didn't even notice she was there. Maybe he already knew?

The comm-links system was still open and they could hear Megatron's voice, loud and clear. Where the Decepticon leader reveals the reason he's there: He wants to team up with the Autobots to destroy Unicron. This made Ratchet laugh, "Ha! Absurd! Unicron is evil incarnate. If Megatron was to take any side, why would it be ours?"

Optimus's voice spoke from the comm-link. "Because Megatron's pride would never allow anyone other than himself to rule this planet," Megatron smirked. "You know me all too well Optimus!"

"You lead an army of 'Cons! Why come to us?" Bulkhead questioned. Megatron began to point out his reason. "Because this particular endeavor requires something beyond the realm of my command. The power of a Prime!" he gestured his servo towards Optimus.

Bulkhead scoffed, "Well, I guess we don't need you." Megatron shook his helm slightly. "On the contrary, Optimus may be the only one who can defeat Unicron, but I remain the only one who can guide you to him! Unicrons lifeblood runs through me. Only I can hear his thoughts, anticipate his movements." Megatron turned his attention towards the Prime and proceeded to step forward as he now stood a foot away from him. "Optimus, our past alliances Autobot, and Decepticon, no longer matters. Not while Unicron lives."

Ratchet slammed his fist onto the control panel, which caused everyone in the room to be startled by this. "The past always matters!"

"A truce between Autobot and Decepticon," Optimus spoke his thoughts aloud before questioning Megatron. "How long do you expect us to believe that will last?", "Only if it's mutually beneficial." Optimus tilted his helm to the side in suspicion. "And... when our proposed shared mission is complete?" Megatron quickly answered without any hesitation. "I will concur this earth... _my_ way."

"Brutal honesty from a Decepticon?" Questioned Arcee.

 _"_ Aligning with the lesser of two evils is still siding with evil!" Ratchet objected to Megatron's proposed truce.

"Do you think you witnessed the full power of Unicron? Those foot soldiers were nothing more than a taste. Unicron has yet to fully awaken!" he continued, "With each passing moment, the bringer of Chaos evolves. Mutating earth from the inside out. What we have witnessed until now is but a prelude of the utter devastation, his rising will wreak upon your world."

"Like your quest for power destroyed Cybertron!" Arcee barked angrily, which Megatron retorted. "Make no mistake, this time there will be a planet left for me to rule!"

"Even if we agree. Unicrons all the way down in the center of the earth. How are we supposed to get there, drive?" Bulkhead asked that's when Optimus spoke. "There is only one way."

Ratchet quickly caught onto the Primes idea to which he denied. "Absolutely not! Ground bridging into space or on a moving train is difficult enough but plotting a blind jump inside of a sentient being!" he continued "Besides, direct exposure to that much dark energon will debilitate you. You haven't built up an immunity like Megatron has!"

As the conversation went on, Optimus has agreed to Megatron's guidance to which he will provide Unicrons exact coordinates. To which they will provide the use of their ground bridge back at the base, much to Ratchet's dismay.

"Optimus, even if we survive the jump how are we supposed to stop Unicron?" Arcee asked. "With the Matrix of Leadership," Optimus replied to Arcee.

"What is that?" Agent Fowler asked, his gaze landing onto Ratchet. "A vessel of pure energy. The collected wisdom of the Primes." Jack took a step forward placing his hand onto the railing, "Do we have time for a scavenger hunt? I mean, where is Optimus supposed to find this...matrix?" Ratchet turned around to face Jack, "Optimus does not need to find it." the medic gestures his left servo onto his chest plate. "He carries it...within him."

"It was the combined power of the primes that defeated Unicron so long ago. The very reason he now seeks to destroy you..." he said. Yet, inside his thoughts, Megatron was thinking about the other possible Prime on earth, which Unicron told him when he first confronted the Bringer of Chaos.

"It would follow that unleashing the power of the matrix directly into Unicrons spark would return him into stasis," Optimus concluded.

"Hold on!" Miko spoke, which grabbed everyone in the room's attention. "If everything goes _'right'_ , Unicrons gonna stay down there?" this caught Jack's eye. "Yeah and can't we...siphon him out somehow?" he asked. Rafael stepped forward, answering to Jack's question. "He's not in the earth's core, Jack. He **is** the earth's core."

"Rafael is correct. Tampering with your core could affect the magnetic poles. Trigger the very cataclysmic events we are attempting to remedy." he said before continuing. "Tragically, Unicron is your planets very seed. Always has been, and always **must** be," he concluded to them.

Suddenly, Optimus's deep voice boomed from the comm-link. "Ratchet, send a ground bridge!" Ratchet walked over to the earth bridge control _(ground bridge control)_. Typing in their coordinates then activated the ground bridge.

Not long, all of Team Prime entered the base all of them had dents and scratches, especially Optimus who had suffered many scratches that were quite noticeable. Lucy, along with the other humans made their way onto the central platform. Optimus disclosed Ratchet and the humans about the details of Megatron coming to base to which Ratchet was not too fond of.

"I know desperate times calls for desperate measures but bringing Megatron here?!" Ratchet said, not believing what he had just heard.

June stepped forward placing both hands onto Rafael's shoulders. "How can you even think about letting that monster get near these children after what he did to Raf."

"He will be closely monitored and only allowed to linger long enough to send us on our journey. Not one moment more," said Optimus. Agent Fowler then began. "What's gonna stop the 'Con from calling in an airstrike if he knows where you live?"

"By ground-bridging Megatron here he will be unable to get a fix on our coordinates," Optimus said, not being all too worried about their base being discovered, though he will still be on his guard no matter what. "Optimus, what's gonna happen to you when all your matrix energy is released?" Jack asked.

Optimus turned around and walked a few steps forward. His back facing the others. "The power of the matrix has not previously been utilized in this particular manner." Jack then spoke again. "but you have an idea, don't you?" the teen wondered waiting for an answer. Optimus does not give him a direct answer but responds with. "Autobots if humankind is to be saved— " Optimus turns around to face them once again. " I have no choice but to proceed...but you do."

The atmosphere became tense and deadly silent. Lucy, Jack, Miko, and Rafael had their eyes glued onto their guardians, though Lucy had her gaze glued on two 'Bots Optimus and Ratchet. All four humans stood perfectly aligned next to each other, almost like a bar signal. This lasted for another minute or so before Bulkhead broke the silence.

"Well, I don't know about humankind, but I'm willing to do it...for Miko" He turns his helm around to face his human companion, along with Arcee, Bumblebee, and Ratchet. "For Jack," Arcee said and Bumblebee beeped Raf's name, which everyone else understood.

Ratchet's gaze landed onto Lucy who was staring right back at him. A smile spread its way onto her lips and knew all too well on what he wanted to say. She was almost certain that being the conservative Bot he is would never openly admit it, but the way he looked at her was enough to make her feel all fuzzy inside.

It wasn't long before Optimus contacted Megatron to which the leader of the decepticon would be arriving at their base through the ground bridge. Ratchet told the six humans to head inside the corridor where they could be hidden from Megatron's line of sight. Though, this caused Miko to complain. Lucy tried to drag her inside the hallway and failed, but to her relief, she was pushed back by Ratchets servo.

"Ugh! No fair! I've never seen him!" Miko turned around to face Ratchet. "Why do we get to hide?" she argued. "Because I said so," he concluded, now standing upright as he watches Miko walk away in defeat. His optics landed onto Lucy who was in front of him. "Don't make me push you over there too." he warned her, to which she simply raised both her hands in defense, "Alright, alright! no need to fret." she said in a playful tone before walking away.

As he watched her enter the hallway, the ground bridge suddenly lit up. He turned his helm to the direction of the ground bridge was before walking over to the rest of the team. All of Team Prime were huddled together staring at the vortex intently. Optimus took a few steps forward where he basically stood right in front of the entrance of it. That was when Megatron appear from the swirling green vortex walking casually, yet intimidating nonetheless. Bulkhead, Bumblebee, and Arcee activated their blasters where they did not plan to let their guard down. Megatron halted, as he now stood in front of Optimus. His piercing purple optics look around the room with curiosity.

"So, this is where the magic happens. Quaint." Commented Megatron.

Lucy and the rest of them watched from the corner of a wall. All eyes were on Megatron who stood before bots with confidence. The stories were true then. He did look quite menacing; the gray spikes across his armor, sharp fingers, and a single cannon located on his right forearm.

Yet, somehow there was something about him that caught Lucy's attention, but before she knew it, Rafael ran out of the corner to which everyone called out his name in a loud whisper. Jack, Miko, Lucy and the other two followed behind the boy which caught Megatron's attention as looked over to his left. Jack managed to reach Raf, holding onto his shoulders. Conveniently, they all stood a foot away from Ratchets pedes. Lucy could have sworn she saw him tense up almost immediately.

Megatron exclaimed with a slight delight. Arcee was now blocking Megatron from the humans with both her blasters pointing directly at him, yet he didn't seem to be bothered by this. "Ahh, I see you're looking much better than the last time we met, little one." Megatron briefly glanced over to Optimus. "Humans. Resilient."

Jack pulled Raf away. "Come on, Raf. He isn't worth it." Jack said, leading Raf away where his mother then took him away. As Jack began to walk away Megatron spoke, which directed at him. "And **you** , I never forget a face even that of a human." Jack looked over his shoulders at Megatron before walking away.

As Megatron simply watches him walk away, something on the corner of his optics caught his attention. It was another human, but this human he had never seen before. It was young looking femme with the longest hair length her had ever laid optics on, but what caught his interest were her eyes. Those eyes looked exactly like his. Never had he seen a human with those color of eyes...they looked rather attractive on her. He quickly noticed that the femme just stood there in the exact same spot when she first stepped out of the hallway. There was no fear plastered across her features, no... she just stared at him unblinking.

He chuckled, and this caused everyone in the room to grow tense, including Optimus, who has been observing Megatron looking down at Lucy.

"Of all my time being on this planet, never have I seen a human not show any traces of fear, and being so close to an enemy, " Megatron said with an amusing smile as he glanced over to Optimus. "Intriguing. From the looks of things, she is a new addition for you to protect, and yet..." he turned attention to Lucy. "None of my soldiers reported another human ally. Quite mysterious, isn't it?" he commented.

His piercing optics was studying her like a prey observing its meal from afar before striking. Lucy didn't faze to what he said, and without warning, she turned around and walked the opposite way, much to Megatron's disappointment which he expressed by curling his lips down. At that moment, Miko stepped forward and began to mindlessly threaten the gladiator before she was grabbed by Agent Fowler and dragged away. Megatron glares down at her, seemingly unfazed by her _empty_ threat.

Everything is set for them to leave. Lucy and Jack were behind the others as they entered the hallway, but before they went any further, Optimus meets privately with Jack and Lucy. The prime spoke to Jack first, and he expresses how impressed he is with how much Jack has grown since they first met. Optimus entrusts him with an odd-looking key. Lucy was a little suspicious when Optimus claimed that it was to the Ground Bridge power supply. Jack gave the two some privacy and walked away to join the others who were hiding. Optimus then glanced down over to Lucy.

"Optimus, uhm...you're staring," Lucy said shyly. Optimus averted his optics away with a hint of embarrassment. "My apologies, I did not mean to stare." his optics once again stared down at her. "But there is something I want you to have before my departure." Lucy had a look of confusion written across her face.

Out of nowhere, Optimus pulled out a small white box and handed it over to Lucy, who took it from his servos. She stared at it before raising her gaze at Optimus, who simply replied with a curt nod. Curiously, Lucy opened the lid which revealed a leather bracelet with two chain clasps on either side of which it held a silver Autobot insignia. A surprised, yet gentle gasp escaped her lips.

"...This is...I-I don't know what to say." a large smile formed on her lips, and looked up at Optimus. "Thank you!" He held out his servo to which she hugged his index finger. A small smile formed on his faceplates. "Keep it close to you at all times." she looked up at him and nodded. "I will."

Optimus stood up, taking one last glance at Lucy before walking away into the main room. The ground bridge was open and Megatron was the first to enter, prior to Arcee's offer of him going first. Before the Team entered the swirling vortex all of them turned their heads around their shoulder pads to take one last glance at their human friends. The six of them now stood near the stairs as they watched Arcee, Bulkhead, Bumblebee, and Optimus walk towards the vortex. Yet, Optimus abruptly stopped to turn and face them one last time before walking behind the rest of his team. Ratchet stood behind the humans and watched the leader disappear through the vortex as it finally shuts off.

 **...**

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 _"More than sixty volcanoes are erupting worldwide, and downtown Honolulu is under six inches of snow!"_ the male broadcaster said in alarm. _"Scientist continue to devise theories connecting these unprecedented natural disasters with the planetary alignment which — "_ the broadcast was suddenly cut off and the sounds of a piercing beep filled the silent air before it died.

June turns to face the four children trying to lighten up the mood. "So, who wants to play a game?" the four of them stared at her. The silence is the only thing that responded.

Agent Fowler suddenly had enough and exclaimed. "That tears it!" June turned around to watch him walk away. "Where are, you going?" he stopped and turned around to face June "I can't just on my hands while the world spins out of control." Ratchet immediately responded. "And what exactly is it that you intend to do?", "Anything! Hook up with my boys at the Pentagon figure out a way to bury that monster for good,"

"In the event, Optimus can't." Ratchet said, furrowing his brow-ridges slightly. "Don't you mean Optimus and Megatron?" Agent Fowler stared at the autobot medic with a look of displeasure on his face. "No one here is thrilled about this arrangement, Agent Fowler, myself included. But with Optimus and Megatron together again— " Jack interrupted him. "Whoa, what, wait, again?"

"Megatron was an Autobot?" Raf asked, to which Miko joined in on the confusion. "Optimus was a 'Con?!" Lucy chuckled at this, which meant all eyes—er optics were on her now. "I highly doubt that Optimus and Megatron switched roles like that," she said with a smile. "Lucy is right."

 _"But, there was a time - back on Cybertron - in the twilight hours of the Golden Age, where Optimus and Megatron were not sworn enemies." he said and began to explain them a tale, "Do you recall when I mentioned that Optimus wasn't always a Prime? Well, he wasn't always Optimus either. He was once a clerk in the Iacon Hall of Records named Orion Pax. But as he learned more about Cybertron's past, he grew increasingly concerned about the present corruption in high places and inequality among the masses. Orion became inspired by the words and ideas of the gladiator, one who had named himself after one of the thirteen original Primes - Megatronus. Megatronus vowed to challenge Cybertron's leadership and demanded that all Cybertronians be treated as equals. The gladiator turned revolutionary rapidly gained a loyal following. Soundwave, chief among them. Orion began corresponding with Megatronus, who came to be something of a mentor to him. As Megatronus left the gladiatorial ring for the political, he saw fit to shorten his name. Before long, Megatron appeared before the High Council to propose his vision for a just society. And it was here that he began to reveal his true colors. Proclaiming to overthrow the old guard with force and arrogantly demanding to be named the next Prime. But Orion did not believe in violence as a means of achieving justice. The sparks and minds of the Council were moved by Orion's words. Here... for the first time since Cybertron's Golden Age...stood someone worthy of being a Prime. But that honor could only be achieved by earning the legendary Matrix of Leadership. His ambitions thwarted, Megatron spitefully severed all ties with Orion and the Council, and came to wage war on all who opposed him through his growing army of followers which he named Decepticons. He vowed to claim the Matrix for himself wherever it may lie. In time, warfare consumed Cybertron, poisoning the planet to its core. Orion journeyed there, hoping to reverse the ill effects and found himself before the very spark of our life giver, Primus himself. The ailing Primus sensed the innate ability within Orion and bestowed the Matrix upon him. It was thus that a surprised and humbled Orion Pax came to be Optimus, the last of the Primes."_ Ratchet finished looking back at the children.

"So, Optimus got the Matrix from Cybertron's core and now he's gonna give it to earth?" Miko asked, then Jack began "What's to stop Megatron from claiming the matrix for himself this time around." Ratchet turned to glance at Jack. "Only his greater desire to save this planet so that he may, in turn, concur it, as he so compellingly argued provided the Lord of the Decepticons can ever be fully trusted."

As the minutes flew by, and the world was still erupting in chaos. The loss of all communications was expected but it was unnerving to not know what was currently happening down in the core of the earth. Their signals were not on the screens, which meant they cannot tell for certain if they are alive or simply...offline. Just the thought of them being deceased shook them to the very bone.

"Doesn't that mean...?" Rafael hesitated to finish but he was glad that he didn't, as Ratchet responded. "Usually, but a more likely explanation would be the severe interference caused by these electromagnetic anomalies"

"So, if we can't track them and they can't contact us." Raf's sentence was finished by Miko "How are we gonna know when they're ready for pick up?"

Ratchet was prevented from responding to the sound of Jack tapping the 'Ground Bridge' key against a railing. "Where did you get that?" Jack holds out the key to Ratchet. "Optimus. Honestly, I don't know why he gave me the key to the ground bridge power supply." Ratchet shook his helm. "Jack, there no key to the ground bridge."

Jacks' eyes widen and held up the key in front of him. "Well, then...what is this?" Ratchet hunches slightly forward to be on Jacks' eye-level and began to reveal what the key was. "That is the key to Vector Sigma." Jack was stumped. "The what?"

"You are holding one of Cybertron's most important relics," he said, as Jack stepped away from the railing and held up the key for Ratchet to take. "I shouldn't have this." Ratchet straighten himself and gestured his right servo at Jack. "Optimus entrusted it to you, Jack.", "But, that doesn't make any sense— oh, why?" Jack asked.

"Because he doesn't plan on coming back." Ratchet declared, looking away from them.

The silence was thick and no one dared to speak. It felt like an hour had passed by and there was no news from the others. All communications were still down and the earth was still in disarray. Then suddenly, the volcano outside erupts violently, and the ground enclosing the Autobot base begins to quake. The massive quake caught them off-guard and Ratchet tells the humans to take cover, and he moves to shield them from falling debris. It wasn't certain how long the earthquake lasted, but the volcano, along with all the Earth's other natural phenomena, subsidies back to normality. Ratchet and the humans watch as the monitors flicker online.

"Do you think?" Jack looked at Ratchet who intern replied. "I do."

The team's life signals appear on the screen and are all safely re-established. They all cheered. Lucy placed both hands on her chest sighing in relief. She looked over at Ratchet who was looking her way with a slight smile. Not long, he activated the ground bridge where Arcee, Bulkhead, and Bumblebee were the ones who entered but there were no signs of Optimus.

"Arcee!" Jack now stood in front of the two-wheeler who had a look of distraught of her face plates, yet she wasn't the only one. "I was worried, Bulk," Miko said in relief. "Y-you alright, bee?" Rafael asked with concern.

A deep frown was written on Lucy's face. She clutched the railing with both hands. Optimus wasn't present and this made her anxious. Ratchet too noticed this and proceeded to ask the others. "And Optimus is he..."

"Dead? no." Arcee shifted her gaze away from them. "But he looked right at us without recognizing us. Didn't even know his own name." Bulkhead added in which the humans, except for Lucy, exchanged looks to one another.

Ratchet emanated a soft hum through his voice box, realizing something that only he and possibly Lucy knew as well. "When Optimus surrendered the matrix of leadership. He lost more than the collected wisdom of the primes. He lost his own memories."

 **To Be Continued...**


	8. Eight: Orion Pax

**FINALLY! It is done. _G-Gomen'nasai!_ (´;︵;`) I couldn't get myself to think properly which is why I took almost 5... 6 weeks in working on this chapter. Plus, I had some nasty writers' block and I've been hanging out with my significant other and his best friend. This is the moment you have all been waiting for. Enjoy the chapter and please don't be afraid to tell me what you think! ٩(｡•ω•｡)و**

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Ratchet grimly outlines the situation and speculates that Optimus has reverted to Orion Pax, his pre-prime self. Fowler wonders why they can't just track down Optimus's signal, but Ratchet says it hasn't been on their sensors since they left the Earth's core. They must find some way to track down Optimus regardless, so they can somehow restore his memory. The best bet seems to be to use the Key to Vector Sigma but there is one slight problem, Vector Sigma is on Cybertron, much to everyone's dismay.

June quickly announces that there's no way Jack is going to Cybertron, but Ratchet tells them that only Jack can use the key to access Vector Sigma. The point's moot anyway, as they don't have any way to get to Cybertron. As Raf points out to Miko that the Ground Bridge barely made orbit, though Miko wonders why Ratchet can't just "turbocharge" it. Lucy had a hard time following to the point she felt like vomiting, though, Ratchet was kind enough to explain it to her slowly. And thus, two months had passed by, and there was little to no luck in finding Optimus's whereabouts.

It was a charming afternoon around Jasper, and inside the library were a couple of people. Many of them were students and the small percentage of them were adults. Lucy was one of them. The young worker was organizing a few books around the Psychology section. A small cart was right next to her where she would arrange the books by their DDC (Dewey Decimal Classification). Since all the books were to 100 -199 she took a while to put the books back in their place. She felt light-headed which was preventing her to concentrate properly. There were nights where she would wake up in the middle of the night from recurring nightmares from the trauma of her past to the point where she had to buy antidepressant for her PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder).

A sigh escaped from her lips while placing the last book on the shelve. Lucy rubbed the bridge of her nose while her other hand was resting onto the cart. She stood there for a moment and right when she was about to push the cart forward her phone began to vibrate from her back pocket located on her right bum cheek. She took out the phone from her blue skinny jeans and answered it in a low but audible tone.

"Hello?" a familiar voice that belonged to the autobot medic spoke from the other line "Lucy?", "Ratchet, it's good hearing from you." She smiled, whilst pushing the cart and making her way towards the private study rooms. "Likewise, anyway, I'm parked outside of the Library. Whenever you are done I will take you back to base." she blinked, a surprised look on her face "You're...outside?", "Yes."

Her cheeks began to heat up, she was at a loss for words. "Oh... I didn't expect a ride today." she laughed warmly. "I just need to place a couple of books up on the shelves and then I'll be out in a jiffy!"

Lucy grabbed four encyclopedia books with ease and walked her way towards the general references or works section. She began to organize them but when she had the final book in hand her head began to swirl and her vision was blurry. Lucy was disoriented and the next thing she knew, she stumbled back and fell, dropping the book in the process. A man simply appeared around the corner and swiftly caught her in his arms before she could hit the floor.

Her head went into a frenzy and she groaned in pain. "What— Oh, God. My head is exploding."

The man set her down carefully and was now kneeled behind her. Lucy gently rubbed her forehead as the pounding slowly lessened up.

"What happened?" she mumbled to herself not expecting an answer from the man behind her. "I should be asking you the exact same notion." startled by the man's familiar voice, and with a quick yet gentle twist of the head, she stared directly into his bright turquoise colored eyes.

Lucy immediately knew that the man before her was none other than Ratchet in his holoform. The only thing that she recognized that it was Ratchet was his mesmerizing eyes and the sharp square chin beard that appeared to be tattooed in an auburn color on his strong square chin. Ratchet, being an old 'bot, his holoforms' taken an appearance of a middle-aged man, with long smooth, gleaming pearlescent white hair and a deep, copper red streak of hair which was swept over to the left where the red streak was his bangs and the other hung freely over his right ear. He also had white sideburns and copper red, bushy-like eyebrows, and some prominent wrinkles on his face. The holoform wore a white lab coat with the autobot insignia on the left side of his breast and underneath he had on a long-sleeved, gray colored, turtleneck. Finally, he wore slim jeans, in a navy-blue color, and black loafer shoes without lace.

"Earth to Lucy!" Ratchet waved his hand in front of her which finally snapped her out of her trance. She blinked a couple of times before smiling nervously. "I-uh...sorry." he simply shook his head, "Honestly, you get distracted by the simplest of things."

Ratchet held out his hand, which she took a hold of, and helped her up from the floor. He picked up the book that was near his feet's and handed it over to her. Lucy timidly took the book from him and placed it in its rightful place on the shelf along with the other books. The air between them was silent for a moment before Ratchet cleared his throat and Lucy looked over her shoulder to look at him, plus hiding the fact that her cheeks were as pink as a spring rose.

"So, shall we get a move on?" Lucy managed to lessen her heated cheeks and faced him completely with a smile while responding with a hum of approval.

She told him that there was something she needed to get from one of the lockers upstairs, and in response, he gave her a curt nod. Ratchet watched her disappear from his line of sight. He patiently waited with his arms folded across his chest while his eyes were admiring the interior painting of the Library. It's mixtures of sleepy blue, pleasant valley and northern cliffs colors made the place more appealing to the eye. The place had a warm yet welcoming atmosphere to which Ratchet found quite soothing to his taste. Though being the way he usually is around his team as well as the humans, he'd kept these thoughts all to himself.

Ratchet turned his head to the right and saw Lucy standing there with her items in hand. He unfolded his arms and guided her out of the building and into his alternative mode (alt-mode or vehicle mode).

As he drove down the road, Lucy shyly asked if he could stop by a nearby restaurant. Ratchet answered to her request with a hum of approval before parking at a restaurant close by. Lucy invited him to join her, but being the grumpy medic, Ratchet was hesitant to leave the vehicle which is ironic considering he IS the vehicle. Soon enough, he gave in and exited the vehicle in his holoform as he walked with her inside the restaurant.

The decor inside was old school but with a modern twist to it. Its warm brown colors felt welcoming, there were lamps that hung down from the ceiling, and a couple of abstract paintings that were on the walls. The wooden tables were made from white oak accompanied by traditional Bentwood chairs, which were the classic type, and they had a soft cream cushion to sit on.

A young waitress took them to their table and handed them the menu. The waitress turned around to walk away but not before glancing over to Ratchet, who didn't even acknowledge the young server which made her frown and walked away. Lucy didn't notice this as she read the menu while Ratchet was being rather aloof with a sulky expression written across his face.

"Ratchet, do you need anything?" Lucy asked whilst her eyes were glued to the menu. He was caught off-guard by her question and gave her a skeptical look, "What...?"

Lucy raised her gaze to stare at him and the way he looked at her was all too much for her. "To refuel." she stifled a giggle. "Honestly, the question wasn't supposed to stump you." Embarrassed, Ratchet looked away with a reddened face. Lucy chuckled before tilting her head to the side, "Can your holoform consume organic food?"

Ratchet glanced over to her and managed to straighten his face back to normal, "Yes. I am the one who designed it where it allows us to consume your organic food where it's converted into energy."

"It's the same with energon, right?" Ratchet nodded and Lucy hummed, "That's brilliant!" she smiled before looking down at the menu that she held, "So, do you want something from the menu?"

A couple of minutes went by and they were content with their meal and both began to chat with one another about random topics. Once their meals were empty, Lucy paid the bill in which Ratchet was not too happy about before leaving the restaurant and heading straight towards the base.

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At the Autobot headquarters, only three individuals occupied the main room. Rafael was assisting Ratchet with adjusting the Ground Bridge's power level, hoping to increase its range, while Lucy was comfortably sitting on a loveseat with a book in hand. The test subject was a toy car but instead of teleporting, it exploded. Lucy was startled and hugged the book close to her chest before realizing it was only a test run over at the Ground Bridge. Raf was consoling Ratchet on the failed test run, saying that it was only the first try, but Ratchet thinks it was a doomed idea from the start.

Curiously, Lucy turned her attention towards the two and listened to their conversation. Rafael tried to cheer up the old bot by telling him a story of his slow triumph over the rope climb in gym class, but it sadly falls on oblivious ears... or audio-receptors, since Ratchet, who harshly responded to the boy, in which he doesn't understand what gym class has to do with increasing the Ground Bridge's power level.

Rafael was now on the couch looking gloomy with his head looking down at the floor. Lucy got up from the loveseat and sat next to Raf, placing her hand on his back. Almost immediately, Raf responded with a smile and Lucy asked if he wanted to play video games with her which he gladly accepted and began to play a new game with him.

As they played video games, Bulkhead arrives at the base through the Ground Bridge, which Ratchet had provided for the wrecker. Transforming into his bipedal form, Bulkhead approaches the medic. "No sign of energon spikes. Arcee or Bee found the Space Bridge?" Bulkhead asked Ratchet who became silent for a moment before replying, "They haven't yet reported back."

Bulkhead frowned noticing the medics dispirited mood, "Ratchet, you alright?", Ratchet who was lost in his thoughts raised his helm glancing over to the wrecker, "Hmm? Yes. Yes, let's just get you to the next quadrant."

Ratchet was about to send Bulkhead out on to the next search when he receives a high-frequency message of peculiar nature. The medic walks over to the main control panel as Bulkhead stood right behind the Mech. "What is it?" Bulkhead asked. "A high-frequency signal with an embedded message..." Ratchet reads further and was quite shocked, "For me?!"

"Optimus?" Bulkhead blurted out, hoping it was their leader but sadly this wasn't the case.

Ratchet opened the message and it quickly identified the individual, and it was from Starscream, much to Ratchets disappointment. "Starscream." Ratchet hissed the renegade Decepticons name with much distaste which caught Lucy's attention. He began to read aloud the message. "I have obtained information regarding your leader. Bring medical kit. Come alone."

Ratchet immediately called out Lucy's name which was perfect timing because she had just finished playing video games with Raf. She approached the railing where Ratchet instructed her to operate the Ground Bridge. Lucy gave him a curt nod before making her way towards the human-sized monitors where she tapped in the coordinates, making sure to keep the vortex open until their return.

A couple of minutes went by, Ratchet and Bulkhead returned with new information on where the Decepticons had hidden the Space Bridge. Lucy never felt delighted to hear this. Ratchet typed in the coordinates he had gained from Starscream.

Arcee and Bumblebee arrived at the base to report to Ratchet about their failed search in locating the Decepticon Space Bridge and were stunned to find out that the old field medic and Bulkhead had already located the Space Bridge. Now, every Bot and Human were present in the main room as Ratchet began to discuss a plan of action in seizing the Space Bridge.

"The Decepticon Space Bridge is located right here—" Ratchet pointing at the large screen where the Space Bridge was located before his optics drifted towards the group, "—deep within an energon mine."

"Adjacent to a raw fuel supply... clever." Arcee mused then turning her attention to the field medic and the wrecker, "What's our Intel?" they looked at each other not even wanting to disclose the information towards her.

"A... reliable source." Ratchet simply said which made Arcee eye them suspiciously but said nothing. "So, do we have a consensus?" He turned around to face the six humans who were staring at Ratchet.

"Do we know if people can even breathe your atmosphere?" June asked feeling more troubled about her son's safety in traveling to another planet.

"I'll hook Jack up." Agent Fowler spoke. June turned to face him and Jack as she furrowed her brows, "Completely state-of-the-art. I still have connections at NASA." Fowler reassured June who frowned in response, "It's too dangerous."

"Mom—" Jack stepped forward, "—I know that this is hard but Optimus risked his life to save our planet and he's not even human. We owe it to him."

"Jack may be the only one who can do this, June, but I don't want you to think for one moment that I'll allow him to travel unchaperoned," Arcee reassured June.

"Not everyone is destined for an ordinary life." Everyone's attention landed onto Ratchet, "Optimus Prime was once Orion Pax after all."

June turned to face Jack telling him that he once wanted to be an astronaut when he was young. She smiled and this made Jack smile at the thought.

Lucy smiled absentmindedly as she silently watched them exchange a brief mother and son moment before Ratchet began to discuss the plan once more.

"We will Ground Bridge directly into the energon mine and make our way to the Space Bridge chamber neutralizing any Decepticon forces we may encounter." Ratchet continued. "Once we secure the Space Bridge we'll send for Jack."

Everyone's eyes... err, optics landed onto Jack who stood in front of the railing with his mom by his side.

"Stealth must be an absolute priority. We will most certainly be outnumbered and if any Decepticon should transmit an alert to their warship." Bulkhead finished Ratchet's notion, "The odds become 401."

"Scrambling communications upon entry will certainly provide an edge, in this regard." Ratchet held a rather small device on his servo which will be utilized for their mission.

"Taking the Bridge is the easy part." Arcee said turning to face the other 'bots, "You three need to hold it long enough for Jack and me—" she pointed a single digit onto herself, " —to get to Cybertron and back."

"Rafael climb to the top of the rope in gym class. We can do this." Ratchet said with a confident smile on his faceplates.

Rafael smiled, "What does gym class have to do with anything?" Miko blurted out as she stepped forward placing both hands on to the railing, "And if Ratchet gets to go on a commando raid I'm going to."

Ratchet stepped forward as he now stood in front of the railing Miko stood, "Miko, you will help Rafael operate our Ground Bridge and manage the communications hub." he instructed her with a simple, and non-dangerous task in which she groaned rather angrily.

"Can't go to Cybertron, can't storm the Decepticon Space Bridge..." Miko grumbled as she walked away with her arms folded onto her chest in a grumpy manner.

Ratchet proceeded to speak and give the last task. His optics landed on June, "Nurse Darby and Lucy will stand by, in case of emergency." Ratchets' optics drifted towards Lucy's way who was now standing next to June.

"Son." Agent Fowler called out to Jack who turned to face him, "It's time to suit up."

Lucy looked up to face Ratchet who was staring back at her, "Be careful out there." she said in a quiet yet gentle voice.

Ratchet gave her a curt nod to which she responded with a small smile. Soon the Ground Bridge opens and team Prime enters to proceed with their plan. Lucy hoped they all come back in one piece, and with Optimus alongside them.

...

...

...

...

...

How much time had passed since the team left on their mission... almost an hour. It was nerve-wracking when you don't have a single clue on what's happening out there. Lucy has been pacing back and forth as the minutes flew by. June was able to ease Lucy up a little, although not so much as she hoped but it was enough to make her stop pacing.

The room was silent and they still haven't heard from Ratchet since he briefly explained what an Insecticon was. All of them stared at the monitors eagerly but patiently for any signs of the Autobots reporting in on their mission. Then a couple of minutes went by and the screen lit up, showing five Autobot life signals. Agent Fowler quickly noticed it as he proceeded to contact Arcee.

"Base to Arcee, we're reading five Autobot life signals down there! Is Prime with you?" Agent Fowler asked to which he received a quick reply from the femme, "And Jack."

"Yes!" Miko exclaimed triumphantly, "Thank goodness." Lucy said quietly in relief.

They were all relieved to hear the news, especially June, who was more than happy to know that her son was unharmed.

Rafael activated the Ground Bridge and they now waited for the 'bots to arrive with Jack, and the first ones to appear were Jack along with Arcee. Jack removed his helmet with a smile written on his face.

"Jack!" June ran over to him and gave him a tight hug.

Bumblebee, Ratchet, and Bulkhead appeared from the vortex as they now huddled around the humans. Lucy approached Ratchets pedes and stood a couple of inches so that she is able to look up at him. He looked down at her and received a smile from her to which he returned the same gesture, and making sure no one else saw him doing this. Typical shy Ratchet which Lucy found quite adorable in her opinion.

Loud footsteps can be heard from the still open vortex. They turned their heads... and helms towards the Ground Bridge and the last one to appear was none other than Optimus Prime. The vortex shuts off behind him, and his battle mask retracts as his optics drifted down at Rafael.

"Optimus?" Raf gazed up at the Prime, feeling uncertain if he even remembers him, but to his surprise, Optimus does indeed remember him, "Hello Rafael." Optimus greeted the boy with a gentle smile on his face-plates.

"The big guy remembers us!" Miko said as she jumped in pure joy, "Woohoo!"

Optimus turns his helm to the left noticing a Decepticon symbol on his shoulder, "Although it seems there is much I do not remember."

"Optimus," Ratchet approached the Prime who was now staring down at him, " it has truly been our darkest hour, but know this: from every indication, your spark never ceased being that of an Autobot." Ratchet placed his left servo onto the Primes arm.

Optimus looks up and takes a few steps forward and stops right in front of the humans. His optics drifted down at the Autobot insignia that is imprinted on the main floor of the base, then his optics landed on a familiar girl with long knee-length hair: Lucy. She had a huge smile plastered on her face and it looked like her cheek were about to explode at any moment. Optimus knelt in front of her and held out his right servo to her. Lucy then approached his servo placing her hand on his index finger while the other was pressed lightly against her chest.

Lucy was overwhelmed with emotion that her eyes began to water, but those weren't tears of sorrow, they were tears of joy. Optimus was concerned at first but was relieved to see her smile brightly at him and he smiled warmly at her. Nobody said a word and instead watched Optimus and Lucy exchange a blissful moment together.

Team Prime had done an excellent job on their mission and successfully came back with their leader yet a new problem will emerge.


	9. Nine: Operation Bumblebee

It was a bright warm day in Jasper, and the Autobot base was quieter than usual. Optimus, Ratchet, and Bumblebee had left the base after Ratchet had stumbled across an ancient Autobot frequency. Fifteen minutes later the three of them returned with a relic to which Optimus and Ratchet went over to the med-bay to examine it. On the other side of the room were Bumblebee and the others as the young scout began to brag about his vehicular acrobatics.

Miko walked away from the group feeling more bored than ever as she headed straight towards the couch, only to find out that someone is already occupying the space. This person was Lucy, who is sound asleep with her head on the armrest. The sleeping British girl wore a cute baby pink, casual style sweatshirt with light blue jeans, and white low top converse.

A brilliant idea came to Miko's head to which she smiled mischievously. Miko slowly made her way towards her prey until she was close enough to which she gave the sleeping Lucy a scare. The poor girl's eyes shot wide open followed by a frightful scream. Lucy squirmed; this made her slide off the armrest of the couch. Falling face first onto the floor, her legs were positioned upright, they dangled above her head. Miko burst into a fit of laughter, holding onto her stomach.

This caused everyone... and 'bot to look over at the sudden commotion. They all saw Lucy face down on the floor with Miko laughing her butt off. Most of them let out a small snicker but some grimaced from the way she fell, it looked painful. The ones who quickly came to Lucy's side were Jack, Rafael, Ratchet, and Optimus.

"Lucy! Are you okay?" Rafael knelt beside Lucy. She spoke incoherently followed by a groan.

Jack glared at Miko who was wiping away her tears after laughing, "Miko, that wasn't cool to wake her up from her nap." Miko glanced over at Jack who had both hands on his hips with a not so pleased look on his face, "Dude, it was just a harmless scare. Besides, I'm sure Lucy's fine!"

Lucy repositioned her legs back and sat up, rubbing her now reddened nose, her forehead was red too. She didn't bother standing up from the floor and instead sat there like a sad puppy. "Ow... my poor nose," Lucy said while brushing her loose strands of hair from her face.

"See! I told you she's fine." Miko looked over at Jack who was not too happy with Miko at the moment. "Yeah, but what if she broke her nose from your little 'harmless scare'?" Jack quoted. Miko pouted by this but said nothing.

Optimus and Ratchet looked at each other with concerned looks written across their faceplates. Lucy spoke in a tired but soft tone. "It's okay, really. I did not break my nose, but... uh, it does hurt a little." Lucy reassured them, waving her hand back and forth. "But I'm sad that I had to be woken up from my nap... by the hands of Miko."

Miko laughed awkwardly to herself, scratching her cheek gently with her index finger. "... yeah, sorry about that." Lucy simply shook her head with a smile.

It was relieving to know that Lucy did not sustain any serious damage after falling face-first onto the floor. The redness on her nose and forehead had subsided a little but still slightly noticeable.

Jack looked over to Lucy and he couldn't believe what he was seeing. Lucy had fallen asleep on the spot, her head being supported by the armrest behind her. He was quick to point this out to everyone, and they were generally surprised by this, then again, it was enough to make them smile in the end!

 **...**

 **...**

 **...**

 **...**

The events unfolded so fast. One moment they were scouting and the next thing you know Bumblebee has his T-cog stolen. It was devastating to see the young scout so dispirited. She's always used to seeing him chirping with joy. Now Bumblebee was at the med bay, sitting on the berth with the saddest look written on his optics.

Apparently, this group called MECH is responsible for stealing the young scouts T-cog. It surprised her that MECH was run down by humans! She couldn't believe it when Jack whispered this into her ear. The situation had gotten complicated after Optimus expressed his deep concerns about what Megatron might unearth next. In one day two problems had formed… how unfortunate.

The rest of the night, Lucy has been comforting Bumblebee the best she could. She managed to lift his spirits up even if it's just for a little while. This was enough to make the young scouts night.

 **...**

 **...**

 **...**

 **...**

In front of the Hospital, a person was leaning against the wall. This person was Lucy. She wore a white robe (lab coat) and underneath she had on a dark blue ER outfit with a pair of white sneakers. Her knee-length hair was combed up into a three strength braid which now reached her hips.

Lucy had gotten out from her shift a couple of minutes ago and she couldn't have been gladder to be outside. Being inside the hospital for long hours can be quite stressful. She knew Optimus was much too occupied in monitoring for any Decepticon activity and was currently searching for any leads on where MECH had taken Bumblebee's T-cog. So, he was unavailable at the moment but she was secretly glad that he wasn't able to come. Otherwise, he would've found out about her working at the hospital as the official Doctor/Surgeon. None of them knew except for Ratchet, Rafael, and Rikona. She wanted it to be a surprise but with the events that were currently unfolding, this meant that her surprise would have to wait a little longer.

The sounds of a siren caught her attention. She raised her gaze towards a familiar orange and white color scheme ambulance. A smile made its way on to her lips. She removed herself from the wall she was leaning on walking over to the vehicle. She hopped inside, being greeted by Ratchet's holoform behind the wheel then he drove off.

"How was your day at the hospital?" He asked glancing over at her.

"Busy, more than usual." she sighs, resting her head on the headrest. "I've been going back and forth between different patients and the soles of my feet are beginning to ache."

"Perhaps a well-needed rest would suffice." Ratchet suggested.

"Yeah… that sounds nice." Lucy looked out the window, watching the scenery before her change. She knew this street all too well. "Ratchet, where are we going?"

"Since Bumblebee can no longer transform after MECH had stolen his T-cog, so, I volunteered to pick up Rafael from school." He said, he took a right where the school building could be seen a couple of blocks away.

Lucy couldn't help but smile. "That's really thoughtful of you, Ratchet." He mumbled a _'yes, yes.'_ to her and this made her smile more.

Ratchet pulled over in front of the school and used his siren to gain Rafael's attention, Right when the young boy was approaching the ambulance in a rush, she took this opportunity to move in the back right when Raf opened the passenger door. Lucy watched in amusement as Rafael began to speak aloud about how thankful he was to the driver who he referred to as 'June's friend from the hospital' trying to act all natural which he clearly failed at. The scene was just too amusing and cute.

"Where are the others?" Ratchet asked as he began to drive away.

"Jack's at work. Miko's in detention – again." Rafael said, looking over at the driver's seat and froze, seeing a strange man driving behind the wheel. He couldn't muster a single word but managed to stutter out his words. "R-Ratchet?"

The medic glanced over at the spiky haired boy, raising a questionable brow at him. "Who did you expect it to be?" he said rather harshly to the boy. Raf blinked, averting his eyes away from him. "Sorry. Uh…I was expecting Bulkhead."

"Well, I'm sorry to disappoint, but he's on watch duty." He said sounding a little offended. Out of nowhere Lucy butted in on the conversation much to Rafael's surprise. "Ratchet, don't be so impolite now."

Ratchet looked over his shoulder at Lucy with wide eyes before focusing his attention back on the road. "I-uh… sorry…" he murmured to himself, and then his eyes landed over to Raf who had sunk down in his seat with discomfort. Ratchet sighed inwardly, already feeling guilty about how he acted and managed to find the courage to ask something that even he would never say to any other person.

"You want to ride with the siren on?"

Rafael looked over to Ratchet's holoform and gave him a small yet awkward smile. "No, thank you." He politely declined Ratchet's offer.

The air around them was silent but she could feel it getting uneasy as the minutes passed by. She debated whether or not to say something to break this nerve-racking silence and then she finally made up her mind. She scooted closer in between their seats, crossing her legs and got herself comfortable.

"So, how was your day at school Raf?" Rafael turned his attention to her and a smile made its way to his lips. "Nothing new, really, just a couple of homework's to work on but nothing special happened." He shrugged nonchalantly.

Their conversation lasted for a couple of minutes before the silence had once again welcomed them during the ride. This time the silence was pleasant, you could it was calming in its own unique way. Ratchet hadn't spoken the entire time, not that it was a bad thing although he did enjoy listening to their conversation before it died down. Lucy hadn't moved from her spot since her conversation with Raf and found it much more comfortable than being in the back. The silence was then broken by Rafael who had asked a question that was directed to Ratchet.

"Ratchet, what happened to Bumblebee's voice box?"

Ratchet was taken aback by this particular question but collected his thoughts before answering the boy's question. "It was…severely damaged in battle."

"How?"

"How do you think?" Ratchet glanced over at him with a raised brow, his lips forming a thin line. "Tragically of course."

"It happened at Tyger Pax." _A place located somewhere back on Cybertron_ , Lucy theorized in her mind.

"Our brave scout was captured by Megatron's forces and interrogated. But he refused to provide Intel…" he paused for a moment before hesitantly continuing. "… and paid a grave price for his courage.

"Bumblebee was left for scrap. But Autobot troops found him and evacuated him to a triage facility – where a field medic managed to stabilize his condition."

"So, we owe Bumblebee's life to that field medic," Raf remarked, looking over to Ratchet.

"That's one way of looking at it, I suppose." Ratchet's grip on the wheel tightened, and a look of distraught was apparent on his features. "Though the medic… could have done better."

Rafael turned his head away with a frown on his face. Lucy's eyes landed on to Ratchet who had his eyes fixated on the road, she drew her brows together and he lips curled down into a frown. She couldn't help but wonder if Ratchet had been referring to himself as the medic who treated Bumblebee of his wounds in his back-story. If so, this meant that he blames himself for not doing a better job in fixing (repairing) Bumblebee's voice box back on Cybertron. Her hand slid its way on to Ratchet's shoulder and felt his muscles tense up from her touch. He looked over his shoulder and his eyes meet hers. She gave him a comforting smile at him as his eyes softened in return.

Upon arrival, they were greeted by an unwelcoming sight of Bumblebee being laid down on the berth. Lucy and Rafael swiftly exited Ratchet's vehicle mode before he transformed, rushing over to the med-bay both humans following right behind him. Both of them stood right next to the berth where Bumblebee was currently occupied in. Raf looked up at his friend, a worried look on his face. Lucy too had the same expression as Raf and comforted him the best she could.

Ratchet turned his helm to Bulkhead, giving the wrecker a dirty look; he beyond mad. "Of all the scrap - - brained ideas - - taking Bumblebee into a potential chase scenario when he no longer has the ability to access his wheels?!" he scowled at him.

"He improvised."

Ratchet was about to resume his quarrel when Rafael intercepted the old 'bots' chance to do so. "Hey, Bee's waking up."

Bumblebee sat up from the berth, holding his helm with his servo. The pain was clearly written on his optics. He buzzed out a moan furrowing his brow-ridges in discomfort.

"You've already lost your voice box and your t-cog. Were you really trying to add your spark to the list?" Ratchet said, letting his temper show in his tone as he approached the scout's berth standing right behind the two humans below his pedes.

Bumblebee buzzes sadly averting his gaze elsewhere. Rafael shook his head. "Don't say that, Bumblebee. You're not useless."

"I agree with Raf, Bumblebee." Lucy raised her gaze at the scout who glanced down at her. Bumblebee's optics stared into her eyes, the doors on his back lowered slightly.

"Look, I hate to break up the pity party, but the 'cons just added unknown Iacon payday number two to their armory." Arcee stepped in, placing both servos on her hips.

Then an all too familiar voice spoke from behind Arcee and Bulkhead, it was Optimus. They stepped back, allowing him to stand in between them. "Neither blame nor praise will modify past events, but we cannot afford to take further unnecessary risks." His optics landed on to the scout. "Bumblebee, you are not to leave our base - - not until we can retrieve your missing biomechanism."

With that Optimus turned and left with Ratchet following right behind him. Lucy watched them leave and her attention went straight back to Bumblebee who had his shoulder pads slumped forward. She neared the berth right where his servos were, placing her hand on top. His digits twitched and his optics stared at her in shock.

"I'm sure your T-cog will come up eventually. Just have a little faith." She reassured the young 'bot who in return nodded.

Whatever Optimus and Ratchet were discussing it clearly involved Bumblebee's T-cog. Ratchet approached the med-bay where he shared his decision to donate his T-cog to Bumblebee but one of them had to perform the surgery. It had been decided that Arcee will be the one to do the operation to which the femme was not too thrilled about. She starts by putting Ratchet into stasis, but before she does the same to Bumblebee, an alarm blares signaling an Icaon homing beacon.

Optimus halts the operation so he, Arcee and Bulkhead can investigate where the relic had been unearthed. No sooner when they leave Agent Fowler contacts the base. The man seems disappointed when Bumblebee is the only one present to take his call, but he passes on the news that he has possible coordinates of MECH's center of operations. Fowler became frustrated as he is unable to understand Bumblebee's beeping, he desperately searches for someone who speaks English instead of beeps, buzzes', and _'bleep'_. Rafael offers his help but was interrupted by Ratchet's sudden voice; he began to babble about someone or a… _fuzor_ as he claimed it to be, in need of voice-box repair. Lucy couldn't help but laugh at his sudden outburst. Fowler stared down at them from the monitors, which he was using, with a quizzical look. Bumblebee took Raf aside, convincing his human friend to allow him to head out and find his missing biotech. Jack volunteers to pass on the message to Optimus, this earned a suspicious look from Fowler before he hung up the call.

 **...**

 **...**

 **...**

 **...**

A half-hour later, Ratchet had awoken from his stasis, only to find Fowler shouting at him about MECH coordinates, and the kids, plus Lucy, reveal Bumblebee's whereabouts where he had gone to deal with MECH by himself. Ratchet began to argue, telling them that Bumblebee is supposed to recover from the surgery as it turns out; the surgery hadn't been done with at all. The autobot medic was appalled by this information and he quickly contacted the others informing Optimus of MECH's center of operations and that Bumblebee was already there.

They were all glad that the others were safe and brought back Bumblebee and his damaged T-cog. The operation soon took place and soon it was all over. Ratchet scanned the young scout before turning his attention towards the others who had been patiently and eagerly watching.

"I…did what I could." He said, averting his optics to the side.

Optimus approached his old friend, placing a servo on his shoulder pad. "Our scout could not have been in better hands, old friend."

"And we didn't stick with plan ''A'' and let Ratchet donate his cog why?" Miko asked, her voice in a half loud, half whisper to them. "Bumblebee wouldn't accept it," Jack replied.

The sound of a certain 'bot filled the air as Bumblebee slowly but groggily stood up from the berth, buzzing softly. Alarmed by this, Ratchet spoke. "Bumblebee! Easy."

The scout, however, buzzed excitedly, stretching out his arms than possed to show off his metallic muscles; cute.

"Please. Recovery takes time." Ratchet told the 'bot, his voice filled with concern and gesturing his servos at him.

Bumblebee outstretched his arms expecting to transform in one try, but this wasn't the case. His first few attempt at transformed was futile. He buzzed questioningly, obviously confused as to why he couldn't transform properly.

"The damage was…severe." Ratchet grimly announced, shutting his optics wishing he could've done more to repair the young ones biomechanism.

Bumblebee tried again, still nothing. He buzzed sadly, but then eventually manages to transform, his engines revs, earning a couple of cheers from the kids and a repeated clap from Lucy. Ratchet couldn't have been more relieved to see his patient/ scout fully transform before his very optics. The muscle car's tires squeal, the driver's side door opening as he buzzes excitingly at Raf while honking his horn.

He chuckles. "Anywhere." Raf runs over to the car, hopping in from the driver's seat and settled himself on the passenger side. "Just…drive!" Then he and Bumblebee took off.

"Go easy!" Ratchet laughs. "Adhere to standard break-in procedure!"

Bulkhead too laughs. "Wh-o-oa! Bee's T-cog looked like it was ready for the scrap yard."

"Hard to believe the doc repaired it," Arcee said, motioning her helm towards the medic.

"That is not all that Ratchet repaired today," Optimus added a smile plastered on his faceplate.

Miko leans over to Lucy whispering something for only her can hear. "So, what's with the nurse outfit?"

Lucy froze, completely forgetting the attire she is wearing. She looked down at Miko with a nervous smile. "This? Oh, I-I'm just… getting ready for my practical! Yeah, that sounds about right." She mumbled the last sentence to herself, laughing awkwardly.

She stares at her questionably, narrowing her eyes. Miko shrugs before walking away. Lucy exhales deeply, realizing that she had been holding her breath for a while now. _'Blimey, I almost blew it there.'_ Lucy let out a yawn, her eyes becoming droopy. _'But first… a well-needed rest would be nice.'_


	10. Ten: Loose Cannons

**UPDATE #2**

 **I am extremely sorry for keeping you all waiting for so long.** **ヾ** **(** **･** **| Many unfortunate setbacks and getting myself motivating seems a little hard, but I have managed to finish this lovely chapter for you guys and I do hope you enjoy!~**

 _P.S. I worked on this chapter at the campus (College) just to show you guys how dedicated I am - - when it's time to finish it, I must finish it! _φ(_ _．．_ _)_

* * *

A yawn managed to escape from her lips, stretching her arms up before relaxing down on the couch. The kids weren't present at the base; the only ones there were Ratchet and Lucy. The rest of the team was out in Omaha to contain a transformer fight that could possibly cause some collateral damage.

Lucy was having a hard time keeping her eyes open after a long day at the hospital and was barely getting any sleep from her rotation hours. Luckily she has the whole weekend off which is a huge relief. A gentle tap on her shoulder woke her, bobbing her head up and looking over her shoulder. Ratchet stared down at her, watching her smile up at him sleepily.

"You look exhausted." He commented. "Get some sleep. You deserve it."

Lucy opened her mouth only for her to be interrupted by a yawn. "…M'kay…" she mumbled before getting comfortable on the couch, quickly falling asleep.

Ratchet smiled, grabbing a blanket seemingly out of nowhere and covered her up with it.

 **. . . . . .**

" - - Dreadwing."

Lucy drowsily sat up on the couch, rubbing her eyes to clean up the crust in her eyes. She overheard the Autobot conversing to one another and couldn't help but wonder who the new and strange voice belonged to. Lucy turned around and was surprised to see a new Autobot in the base, for what she could guess this was Wheeljack that Miko and Bulkhead had talked so much about.

"Hope he's enjoying the visit. It's gonna be his last." The one called Wheeljack said, standing up from the berth and clenched his right servo into a fist. Ratchet groaned in frustration.

Lucy studied him noticing a fresh injury on his left shoulder pad. _'How long have I been out for?'_

"Wheeljack, this planet is heavily inhabited. Any strike we make against the decepticons must be carefully measured as a team, lest we risk endangering the human population." Optimus tries to stem the wrecker's hotheadedness but this sadly failed.

"Are you suggesting we sit back and do nothing?" Wheeljack said irritation in his voice followed by disbelief.

"You! Loose cannon!" The sound of Agent Fowler's voice made her jump out of her skin. _'When did he get here?!'_

"Your cowboy antics almost blew our cover." Fowler pointed his finger at Wheeljack who seemed baffled by this new information. "Cover?"

"We're robots in disguise, Jackie," Bulkhead said, walking up behind his fellow wrecker. "You needed an earth-based vehicle mode outside of here."

"That spaceship you shot down - - not earth-based! I had to jump through some big hoops to get it hauled out of plain sight." Agent Fowler said. "You need to keep a tighter leash on you people, prime." Fowler's words didn't hit so well with Wheeljack as the wrecker turned around to face him.

"A tighter leash? Let me clarify, tiny." Wheeljack said as he slowly approached fowler. Bulkhead intends to placate him but Wheeljack didn't listen. He leans down to face the human. "I'm not one of Optimus Prime's people." And then, he walks off.

"I'll talk to him - - with your permission," Bulkhead asks, looking over his shoulder-pad for his leader to respond. "Of course." With that Bulkhead left.

"So, the new guy has a little problem with authority," Fowler said as he watched Bulkhead leave.

"Wheeljack and Bulkhead served together in the wreckers, a combat unit that operated outside the normal chain of command." Optimus smooth this information over to Fowler who seems to finally understand. "Hmm. Black Ops."

"They accepted mission no one else would, and many of them did not come back," Optimus confesses, turning his helm to where Bulkhead had gone.

She couldn't believe what she had just heard. It was hard to think that many wreckers had lost their lives by risking themselves in dangerous missions. She furrowed her brows just at the mere thought of it. Lucy stood up from the couch, quietly; she sneaked away from them and entered the elevator as it silently closed its doors.

Once the elevator reached the top of the silo, the doors opened and Lucy made her way towards a narrow but wide cave up front. She could hear two familiar 'bot talking amongst each other, the closer she got, the clearer their voice became.

"Roadbuster, Pyro, Impactor, Rotorstorm, Seaspray - - all dust." Wheeljack reminds Bulkhead of their many wrecker companions, who are now one with the Allspark.

"That's what I'm talking about. Wreckers are Autobots. There just aren't that many of us left." He frowns but regains his composure. "But if we get behind Optimus, we have a chance to end this once and for all," Bulkhead said his tone filled with reassurance and confidence.

"Guys like Optimus - - they talk a good game, but when you're in the scrap, they don't want to get their hands dirty." Wheeljack retorts.

This was unacceptable! She was unable to control herself and allowed her voice to be heard, loudly. **"You're wrong!"** Both wreckers were caught by surprise, looking over to see Lucy standing at the entrance of the cave.

"L-Lucy?!" Bulkhead exclaimed.

Wheeljack simply raised his optic-ridge at Bulkhead. "Who the heck is this, chick?"

Bulkhead looked at him, gesturing his servo at Lucy. "Jackie, this is Lucy. She's been a part of this team for months now."

Lucy stomped her way towards them, standing next to Bulkhead's pedes. She placed her hand on her hips, staring directly at Wheeljack in disapproval. "You have no right to speak of him in such an ill manner." She argued, earning her a glare from Wheeljack.

He scoffs. "Listen here, princess." He stepped forward, trying to intimidate her but she didn't budge. "Whether you like it or not - - your so-called _'leader'_ isn't all that's cracked up to be. I much rather be on my own than to follow orders from an old - - no good - - frag hole!" he raised his voice, causing them to flinch.

Bulkhead had enough, stepping in between them then held up his servos in defense. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Take it easy you two!" He urged them to stop but was mainly directed at Wheeljack.

"Jackie, you don't know Optimus like I do." He stepped back, making sure not to squish Lucy in the process. "Look, being a wrecker meant everything to me, but I left that behind."

Wheeljack rolled his optics. "Because prime was the real thing, blah, blah, blah." _Ugh! The nerve of this guy._

Suddenly a loud beeping was heard from inside Wheeljack's ship. He and Bulkhead went inside. Lucy huffed in irritation, pulling out her phone from her pockets typing in a message before she hesitantly followed behind. An unfamiliar voice echoed through the speakers.

"Wheeljack, I know you're out there, listening. I have a proposition for you."

Bulkhead stood next to him. "Is that…?"

"Dreadwing."

"Meet me at these coordinates if you have the spark." The vertical let out a _'beep'_ and the screen showed them the location that Dreadwing had sent.

"I'll see you there; con, just to watch you fry," Wheeljack said taking a seat to his left in the pilot seat.

"Jackie, it's a trap." He warned.

"I know, but when has that ever stopped me?" Wheeljack pressed a few buttons, activating his ship which let out a loud rumble. He turned his helm to Bulkhead. "You coming with?"

Bulkhead took a seat to the right. "At least let me call for backup."

"You know wreckers don't call for backup," Wheeljack said, looking over at him.

Both exchanged a knowing smirk. "They call for clean-up!" they said in unison before smacking each other's servos with a _'clang'_.

 **. . . . . .**

All she could do was watch from behind a tree as Wheeljack confronts Dreadwing by himself. Both determined to finish off each other's unfinished business. They exchange fire, Dreadwing runs, and Wheeljack follows right behind him. Lucy runs after them, making sure she's at a safe distance from where the excitement was taking place. The sounds of various explosions were heard and for what she could guess, it was probably pre-placed by Dreadwing himself. She couldn't help but get a bad feeling about this whole situation; how she hated being right. Dreadwing had run into a dead end down at the crevice. Lucy hid behind a tree, silently watching the scene unfold before her.

"If you're thinking about flying out of here…"

"Think again." Bulkhead finished Wheeljack's sentence as he appeared atop the crevice, holding up his blasters at Dreadwings directions.

"Something's not right." Diffidently, she leaned closer, noticing an unpleasant smirk appear on Dreadwings lips. In fact, she wasn't the only who noticed this, Wheeljack had a look that can only be described as pure shock.

Lucy ran out of her hiding spot. "Guys it's a trap! Get out of there!"

Wheeljack turned his helm only to stare at her in alarm. "Kid, what are you doing here?!"

Their reunion was cut short when a proximity bomb went off on the cliff face, right where Bulkhead was. The cliff crumbled beneath his feet and Bulkhead let out a yell as he slid down the now rocky cliff.

Lucy stumbled back but was unable to keep her balance, not long she lost her footing and began to roll down the cliff. She rolled down safely to the crevice below and she got up on her feet running towards the pile of rocks. Both wreckers were buried underneath the rubble and she didn't pay mind of Dreadwing flying off, probably to avoid being caught in the pile of rocks.

"Bulkhead! - - Wheeljack!" she called out their names but sadly neither of them responded.

She tried to lift a rock twice her size but ultimately failed. "Come on, you good for nothing rock!" she grunted, kicking the rock to vent out her frustration. "Please… you two better be still breathing in there." Lucy whispered huffing out air from her lips.

"I admire your attempts to free your comrades, human but, I'm afraid to say - - you're wasting your breath." Dreadwing looked down at her from atop the cliff.

Lucy looked up at him as she stepped away from the rubble, taking a couple steps back while not breaking eye contact. She watched in fear as Dreadwing jumped down in the crevice and slowly made his way towards her. Her back came in contact with a wall and let out a soft whimper as he now loomed right in front of her.

 **. . . . . .**

He didn't know how much time had passed but he'd imagine it had to bed an hour or so. Wheeljack grunted, moving away a couple of boulders off of him but was then assisted by someone who he assumed to be Bulkhead.

"What took you so long, Bulk?" he asked. "Don't tell me your riding with Prime has made you…" He raised his helm and was surprised to see Optimus helping him out from his rocky situation. "Soft."

Optimus offered his servo to Wheeljack who gladly took it as he hoisted the wrecker out of the rubble. "If you will not take orders from me, that is one thing." he pointed his digit at him "But when you place one of my Autobots in danger…"

"With all due respect, sir, Bulkhead knew the risks. Every wrecker does. Now, I'm sure he's just somewhere in this rubble." Wheeljack turned around to face the boulders.

Optimus receives a comm link call from Ratchet informing him that Bulkheads signal has moved.

"You coming with?" Wheeljack began to walk away with Optimus following behind. "We better hurry who knows what Dreadwing might do to them."

"Them?" Optimus questioned, noticing the wrecker tense up which raised even more questions. "Wheeljack."

"Uh… well - - you see, this kid managed to sneak aboard my ship and followed us here." he stammered, but Optimus grew rather impatient and urged him to finish. "Name, what is their name?" he asked, the tone of his baritone voice sounding slightly bitter.

"Bah… I'm not even sure - - wait. If I remember correctly her name was Lucy."

Optimus abruptly come to a halt and his optics widen. "I… don't understand," Optimus said in disbelief.

"I don't know either, but we better hurry - - who knows what Dreadwing might do to them," Wheeljack said, looking over his shoulder pad at the Prime.

 **. . . . . .**

Wheeljack and Optimus fly to Bulkhead's location, a shipping depot, hoping to find Bulkhead… and Lucy. Optimus had both his blasters at the ready in case of any enemy fire while Wheeljack held a radar in his servos which would lead them to their comrade and hopefully the human as well.

"We are close to population. Remember…"

"Blasters and fuel pumps don't mix." Wheeljack finished as he resumed to the radar on his servo where he continues to search for his comrade.

"Our boys just up ahead." The further he got the quicker the radar beeped. Bulkhead was just around the corner and he was but in a tighter spot.

Bulkhead was strapped to a shipping crate and had a bomb attached to his chest plate which was slowly ticking away.

He looks over at them. "Hey, guys."

Both Optimus and Wheeljack exchanged a quick glance at each other and the back at Bulkhead. "Scrap."

Wheeljack approaches him. "You really got yourself in a heap scrap this time, partner." Bulkhead flinched and warned him to stay back however Wheeljack simply ignored him and proceeded to work on the bomb. "Better get to work."

"Have you defused one of these before?" The prime asks.

Wheeljack presses the bomb watching it extend and thus revealing him many wires inside. "Fail-safes, Dummy leads, Booby traps." He blinks. "It's a work of art."

From afar Dreadwing watches from the top of a crane as they attempt to defuse the bomb on Bulkhead. He receives a transmission from none other than Megatron himself and turns to the side to answer it.

Bulkhead nervously stares down at Wheeljack. "Jackie, if you don't abort we're both gonna need clean-up," him saying those words made Wheeljack feel on edge.

"Trying to focus here, Bulk." He musters and continues to examine the bomb. He didn't know where to begin. Should he pull the blue or the yellow wire… or the red?

Bulkhead looks up and notices Optimus was no longer there. "Where's Optimus?"

Wheeljack turns around and scoffs. "Like I told you and that girl when the scrap hits the fan blades, the generals are the first to bail."

Bulkhead denies this notion by simply saying. "No, not Optimus."

Somewhere not too far from where the others were located was Lucy, chained up and was dangling up to a crane and right below her was the ocean. She was so overjoyed by the whole situation she had gotten herself into.

Lucy sighs deeply and mutters to herself about how she SHOULD NOT have followed them. A wave of guilt washed over her and felt so ashamed. She pulled a Miko. Next time she should choose her actions wisely before sneaking out into a dangerous situation, such as this one.

The sounds of heavy and metallic footsteps could be heard from below. Lucy instantly looked down and to her delight saw Optimus standing there.

"Optimus!"

The prime looks up to Lucy, relief washing over him although seeing her dangling from the crane frightened him to no end. "Hang in there. I'll find a way to set you free."

"Please hurry. Dreadwing attached a bomb behind me and - - please." Her voice trembled, pleading for him to release her from the chains and possibly from her imminent death.

Optimus wasted no time climbing up the crane, but what he heard and saw next made his blood run cold. The crane began to creak - - suddenly the chains gave away and she was now plummeting down, and then the chains came to an abrupt halt and in return, she received a painful whiplash to her neck and was now moaning from the pain.

He quickly made haste finally reaching the top. Optimus slowly but carefully made his way towards Lucy, kneeling down and then pulled the chains up towards him. He made sure to do it gently as to not further injure her from the sudden fall she had experience.

She groaned, feeling awfully light-headed and groggy. "I…regret this." She blurted out, wincing from the pain in her neck.

Optimus grabs hold of her small figure, placing her on the crane before swiftly removing the chains from her body. The sound of the bomb ticking was nerve-wracking and Lucy couldn't help but feel like time was running short. **\- - *Crack* - -** Optimus broke the chains from her body and pulled her close to his chassis before jumping off the crane.

At that moment the bomb suddenly went off, destroying the crane into pieces. Optimus rolled on the floor, landing on his back, and he lets out a groan through his mask. Both servos held Lucy protectively on his chassis and slowly he removed one servo but held her gently with the other, allowing her to sit up. He raised his helm to look down at her, his mask suddenly retracting and the worried look on his face had never been clearer.

"Are you hurt?"

She shook her head. "Just a minor ache in my neck but other than that, I'm alright. I probably would've ended up in pieces, and if you ask me, it sounds unpleasant."

 **. . . . . .**

After the entire shipping depot was blown up and with Dreadwing flying away from the scene, they all returned to base. Stepping inside the base, Lucy was instantly met by a frantic looking Ratchet. Instead of checking up on Bulkhead, he went straight to Lucy making sure she didn't have any external and internal injuries.

Not long she was pulled to the side and was given a long lecture by the two 'bots; Optimus and Ratchet. She apologized profusely and promises not to sneak off without their consent or knowledge.

It was awfully late at Jasper and many of the 'bots had dispersed inside the base and were now resting somewhere within their living quarters, including Ratchet. Lucy was the only one in the main room; she was sat on the couch with a book in hand. Since she slept through the entire day sleep for her right now was not necessary.

Lucy was so engrossed in her reading that she failed to notice a 'bot approaching her from the side. That's when a booming voice called out to her. She raises her head towards the voice and saw Optimus staring down at her.

A smile spreads across her lips. "Hey."

"Why aren't you recharging?"

She blinks. "Oh… well, I slept throughout the day and well… I'm just not feeling sleepy." Optimus hums in thought.

Lucy moves the bookmark in between the pages she is in and then closes the book and throws it aside. "Say Optimus?" she raises her gaze up at the Prime. "Back in the shipping depot - - How did you manage to find me?"

"Do you remember the bracelet I gave you just before we embarked down to the earth's core to stop Unicron?" She nods.

How could she not forget that terrifying day? Earth almost blew up because of Unicron.

"Well," he raises his right servo, pointing his index finger at her left wrist where the bracelet was. "It has a built-in tracker inside and it allows me and me alone to read."

"And whenever you are in a dire situation - - no communication or lost, you simply press the insignia." He grabs her wrist, gently, and presses the insignia, the empty lines within it began to glow a cyan hue. "And I'll come to you."

Lucy's eyes lit up, staring down at the bracelet in awe. All this time he's been monitoring her - - wait, does that mean…? Then he suddenly spoke.

"I've been meaning to ask you something for some time now." _Here we go._ "You have been visiting the hospital for quite awhile now, and I couldn't help but notice how easily exhausted you look." _Bam, she's been found it...well, sorta._ "You aren't ill, are you?"

Lucy scratches her cheek with her index finger. "Not exactly." She smiles sheepishly at him. "I wanted to tell you this sooner but you were so busy I had to hold back a bit, you know?"

"I graduated medical school - - finished my medical practices, and now I'm working at the hospital alongside with June." She felt his digits wrap around her arm gently, a smile formed on her lips.

Optimus, too, smiled down at her. "Do you mind telling me about your experience during your time at the hospital?"

"Of course."


	11. Eleven: Nemesis Prime

The smell of disinfectant and alcohol filled her nose, as she gently dabbed the now humid cotton ball on the patients' laceration on their forearm. From what she was told, the person had accidentally cut themselves with a hatchet whilst doing something in their garden. Once she finished cleaning, disinfecting, sterilizing and wrapping the wound, she sent the person off but not without telling them how to properly treat the wound and commenting that they should be more careful next time.

Exiting the room and she walks down the long hallways of the hospital with nurses in every corner she went. She arrives in a room where many pale green lockers reside and a couple of nurses occupying the semi-empty room. Lucy walks over to her locker, unlocking the padlock with a combination of numbers, and then she grabs hold of her small ebony backpack that contained all of her belongs. Closing the locker, clicking the padlock shut before exiting the room.

Looking down at her watch, it was nine o'clock and her ride back to base should arrive at any moment. Then someone calls her name and she raises her gaze to see Nurse Darby.

"Leaving already?"

She nods. "Yeah, I just finished attending my last patient for the night."

June hums in thought. "So who's going to pick you then?"

Lucy thinks for a moment and rests her fingers on her chin. "Not too sure…" she trails off not noticing June leaning over.

"I bet it's going to be Ratchet. ~" she cooed playfully and watches in amusement as Lucy's face instantly flushes.

"I-I…um…"

June pats her shoulder reassuringly. "Now, now there's nothing to be ashamed of." This only made her redder as it is.

Lucy stared fixedly at the floor and found it much more interesting, silently admiring the whitish marble floors. She suddenly felt the fabric underneath her uniform warm up it was her necklace and which meant one of the Autobots were nearby. Raising her head and notices a familiar tall male with his blue hair slicked back.

"Optimus…?" she breathed out; surprised to see him standing there.

June turns around to see the leader of the Autobots approaching them in his holoform. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. How was this even possible? There so many questions running through her mind and she simply couldn't get her eyes off of him. He looked so…attractive.

June blinks. "…Op…timus?"

He turns his gaze down to June in acknowledgment. "June."

She looks over at Lucy in disbelief. "When did this—"

"Happen?" Lucy finished her sentence. "They always had them implemented into their system but it was only a prototype until a couple of months ago."

Lucy walks over to Optimus and smiles directly at June. "Pretty neat, huh?" June nods slowly.

"The only ones using them are Optimus," she gestured her hand towards him. "And Ratchet."

She pivoted so that her back was now facing June, and lifted her hand to wave at the nurse. "We better get going, take care June!"

They both left the hospital and were now driving down the dark and empty road of Jasper.

Lucy turns her head to stare at Optimus. "How's the energon search going?"

"It hasn't been easy. I managed to gather a single energon crystal in a subterranean energon deposit." He glances over at her and then looks back towards the road. "Well, what was left of it."

She gently pokes his arm making him turn his attention to her with a look of surprise. "It's a start, you know? I'm sure you'll find plenty more energon mines sooner than later."

…

…

…

Optimus rolled to a stop once he reached the main room of the base. Lucy hopped off the passenger seat and was now holding an energon crystal. She took a step back allowing him to transform.

"This crystal is lighter than I expected it to be…" she trails off turning her attention towards the other Autobots gathering and, for some reason, cautious.

"Is something wrong?" Optimus asked them.

Arcee exchanges a quick glance over at Bulkhead and then back at Optimus. "We were just… wondering where you've been."

"We haven't been able to reach you." Bulkhead said.

Lucy steps forward. "Of course you haven't!" their attention was now on her. "He was telling me that he's been at an underground energon site - - and here's the proof." She holds out the energon crystal from her grasp and they immediately looked frightened especially Ratchet.

She raises her right hand and shows them that she had a rubber glove. "Safety first, right?" they all shared a look of relief.

Lucy and Optimus look at each other with a look of confusion.

"Um… will someone please tell us what happened? Why are you all so suspicious of Optimus?" she looked over at agent Fowler and noticed that he too looked quite tense.

"Because I was attacked earlier tonight out on the open highway by a big rig - - one that bore a striking resemblance to you." Fowler locked eyes with Optimus.

"Whoever it was ran me over too." Added Arcee.

Lucy furrowed her brows. "Wha—what?! That's awful!"

Just then Agent Fowler receives a phone call, turns away, and then answers it. That's odd. How can he receive a call from inside the base? That is a question that will remain a forever mystery to her.

"What?! That's not possible. I can tell you sure as there are 50 stars on my star-spangled shorts it isn't him." He pivoted to face Optimus and then hangs up the phone to inform them about an attack by Optimus Prime in Alden military base.

Jack looks over to Fowler. "The truck?"

"The 'bot."

…

…

…

Agent Fowler was once again on the phone arguing with the general and stated that Optimus didn't attack their guys. Yet the general on the other end of the line wasn't convinced in the very slightest, and then Fowler hesitantly agreed before hanging up the phone.

"So, what's the damage?" Jack asks with his arms folded in front of his chest.

Fowler sighs deeply. "All military personnel are under strict orders to destroy any and all 'bots on sight."

All three teens were in disbelief and visibly upset about the news claiming that Optimus is innocent. Lucy too shared her disapproval towards the militaries orders and noted that everything that has happened between the false Prime was all uncalled-for.

"Though unfortunate, the military order changes nothing. Our imposter clearly poses a grave threat to humanity." Optimus expresses his concern and his optics glances over to Lucy before averting back to Fowler.

"A 30-foot-tall transforming imposter." Fowler stated.

The team realizes that MECH was the one responsible for this mess and even mentioning, to their displeasure, had finally succeeded in replicating Cybertronians.

"And say hello to Nemesis Prime." Miko dubbed the false Prime with enthusiasm in her voice.

Lucy was staring with a deadpan look on her face directly at Miko. "Nemesis…Prime?" Miko turns her head to face Lucy and gave her a sheepish smile.

Agent Fowler rests his hands on the railing. "So, where do we start? MECH's base could be anywhere."

"Not necessarily. While MECH may have learned much of our biology…" Optimus trails off and then Ratchet finished his sentence.

"They haven't necessarily absorbed our technology." Ratchet steps forwards to press a couple of buttons on the main control panel where it displayed the false Prime's previous sightings. "Without access to a ground bridge, Nemesis Prime would rely solely on its vehicle mode for transportation."

"Chances are the MECH base is within driving distance of both incidents." Arcee said and was now standing right beside the Prime.

However, Fowler was adamant to put a stop MECH's plan. "What are we waiting for? Let's get out there and mash MECH's little science project."

"Agent Fowler, I do not think it advisable to put yourself in harm's way of MECH's robot again." Optimus stated.

Fowler repeated the Primes sentence but in his own way. "Well, I'm not sure it's advisable for 'bots to be running recon with the military out there gunning for you." He folds his arms in front of his chest.

"We will maintain vehicular cover until absolutely necessary." Optimus said firmly earning a frown from Agent Fowler.

The 'bots fan out and they began their search for MECH's base of operations and Bumblebee, found a large abandoned complex. However, the young scout stumbles upon Optimus and is briefly fooled before the faker couldn't even understand him. He took action and attacked the imposter but is quickly overpowered by the much larger 'bot and was knocked unconscious.

Back at the base, Lucy was sitting on a chair by the smaller monitors when suddenly she grasps the fabric of her pants and was now staring fixedly at the floor. Something didn't feel right and she was hardly paying attention to the conversation.

Ratchet was attempting to isolate the control frequency of Nemesis Prime to pinpoint the location of its operator. The monitor beeps and he exclaims causing Lucy to snap her out of the trance she was in.

"Frequency Isolated."

Fowler unfolds his arms. "Then reopen that bridge." He gestured his index finger towards the ground bridge.

Ratchet was taken aback by Fowler's request. "Agent Fowler, did you not hear Optimus advise against your involvement? It's for your own safety." However, Fowler was pretty insisting on going.

"Look, doc, I don't plan on dancing with any 'bots, but there's a human element in play here, and in case you haven't noticed, I happen to be a highly trained, government-grade human."

Lucy stood up from the chair and steps forward resting her hands on the railing. She had to go with him - - she had to!

"I'm going too." She declared earning quite a few shocked faces from them especially from Ratchet who looked absolutely horrified.

"Absolutely not!" Ratchet expressed his disapproval towards her involvement but she refused to take 'no' for an answer.

"Ratchet, please - - hear me out. I'm asking you to allow me to accompany Fowler out on the field. I promise not to get involved with any of the fights between Cybertronian and Nemesis Prime."

Ratchet stared at her for what felt like forever until finally, he gave in, sighing deeply. "Fine - - BUT at the first sign of trouble I will bridge you straight back." He gestured his index finger at her.

She nods. "I understand."

Ratchet typed in the coordinates and opened the ground bridge allowing Lucy and Agent Fowler to head straight towards the compound. She was the first to step out of the vortex with Agent Fowler right behind her and she could hear him gagging.

She approaches him and rests her hand on his shoulder. "You all right?"

He gave her a curt nod and managed to find his voice after his little gag fest. "I think I'm gonna toss the breakfast I ate back in flight school."

 ***CLANG***

They looked over to see Optimus smacking his back against a wall and engaged a game of tug of war with Nemesis Prime…well, reverse tug of war. Instead of pulling the rope they're pushing each other until either one of them tumbled it appears that neither of them was backing down. Then Fowler's phone rang and picked it up, it was Ratchet and he instructed Fowler that the location was 100 meters due north. They turned around and saw the building which was guarded by MECH soldiers on the roof.

There was an explosion down below and the soldier used his binoculars to see and then felt a tap on his shoulder. He looks over and was instantly greeted by Fowler's fists which knocked him unconscious. Fowler opened a nearby hatch and went in first, Lucy was going to follow right behind but he stopped her.

"I want you to stay out here, it's for your own safety." She crosses her arms with a displeased look on her face. "Look - - things could get real dirty down here and I don't want you getting mixed up in the fight. If you do, doc wouldn't be happy about it."

Lucy sighs in defeat. "Fine - - just be careful down there, all right?" he gave her a curt nod and closes the hatch.

' _So much for being useful to the team.'_ She huffs and turns around to watch the fight between Optimus and Nemesis.

Both of them were on each other's necks and at one point the Prime was on his knees while the Silas was talking to him through the doppelganger. He was gloating, commenting about his skills were equal to him. The battle continued on and Optimus was once again on his knees and Nemesis Prime was ready to strike directly at his head, when all of a sudden, his arm was unusable. It was suspended in mid-air and had a blue aura surrounding his arm. Nemesis frantically looked around until he looks over his shoulder and saw Lucy with her arm outstretched and the palm of her hand was emitting a blue aura which was holding his arm in place.

Silas was staring at the screen in pure shock if only she could see the look on his face. He gripped the controls tightly; his lips were quivering while mumbling under his breath. "How's that even possible…?" the look of shock was soon replaced with anger and he soon shouted directly at her. "YOU - - HOW ARE YOU STILL ALIVE?!"

Lucy blinked, surprised at his choice of words. He wasn't done talking just yet.

"YOU SHOULD'VE BEEN DEAD WITH THE REST OF THEM!" _Wha—what on earth does he mean by that?!_

Before Silas could even say another word, Optimus rammed his fist on Nemesis's face making him stumble back. Lucy sprinted and was now on the other side of the compound watching as Nemesis and Optimus climb on the roof, not realizing that they were standing on the bunker where Silas was currently occupying.

Both summoned their blades and began a heated fight and, to her horror, Optimus was impaled to the side by Nemesis/Silas.

"OPTIMUS!" She instantly covers her mouth with both hands.

Optimus turns his helm to the side, his optics landing on Lucy. "…Lu…cy…" his voice was filled with pain which made her feel much worse.

Nemesis turns his helm to stare at Lucy. "How touching. So you really care about him don't you, girl?" he looks back down at Optimus, the Prime was practically trembling from the pain. "But you know what the key difference between you and me is?" Optimus glares up at Nemesis. "My body can't feel pain!"

He slashed Optimus's side once again earning a painful groan from the Prime before falling down on his knees.

"This is just the beginning. Imagine an army of transforming robots." Nemesis raises his blade up high preparing to strike. "No one will stand against the newly rebooted MECH."

Then there was a long pause. Nemesis was just standing there - - motionless. It didn't seem like he was attacking anytime soon. This gave Optimus enough time to fully recover and stood up, swinging his fist at Nemesis who somehow regain some movement. Yet, Optimus had the upper hand and was pounding the doppelganger into a bloody pulp, dominating the directionless-copy. Nemesis's body fell and Optimus finished it off with one powerful blow causing the roof to cave in on itself, sending Nemesis along with tons of rubble down inside the bunker.

"Agent Fowler?" Optimus looks down at the bunker revealing the main operation of MECH.

The sounds of helicopters in the distance can be heard and Optimus turns slightly to the side to stare at the upcoming vehicles from afar.

"That would be our boys." Fowler chimed in and folds his arms in front of his chest, a smile appearing on his lips. "I advise you to get back to base, Prime and don't forget to take Lucy with you. I'll handle uncle Sam."

…

…

…

The next day it was a late afternoon in Jasper, all the 'bots were present in the main room. Bumblebee, Bulkhead, Arcee and the three teens were huddled in on a corner talking about their experience in fighting against a copy-cat of Optimus Prime. While Lucy was sat on a chair where the smaller sized monitor was and was farther away from the rest of the group.

She's been detaching herself from the orders since her return from the compound that night. What Silas said to her really got her thinking for the rest of the night. She hadn't even met the guy until that very same night! And yet, why do his words unsettle her so much? _You should've been dead with the rest of them…_ She didn't understand.

"The question still remains whether MECH will continue to function as we know it without its leader." Optimus said lowering his left arm after Ratchet finished sealing the wound.

"Well, here's the kicker." Fowler's voice could be heard and they all turned their head up to the monitor. "We sifted through the wreckage with a fine-tooth comb…and couldn't find any trace of Silas."

This was troubling news indeed. Silas was still out there but judging by what Optimus had told her, he could be in critical condition after having the doppelganger and tons of pieces of the roof fall on him. It would seem like they won't be seeing him for a while…for now.


	12. Twelve: Flying Mind

**It's been exactly four months since my last update and I deeply apologize for being a little late. I've been having a rough time with myself (emotionally specifically) and I took a little break to gather my thoughts before finishing a couple of paragraphs of this chapter (which was almost 90% done when I looked at it.) I'm proud of myself for this chapter and for future ones as well. This time I'm going to make it interesting * _if my brain allows me to c'': *_ and I've been working on a couple ideas for future chapters. They'll be slow but absolutely worth it. I'm grateful for your patience _(which is crazy considering that I take soo long... Σ(O_O) I'm happy you guys waited this long for this chapter to come out.)_**

 **Enjoy! ~ (๑˃ᴗ˂)ﻭ**

* * *

" _ **Anthocharis cardamines,**_ _also known as the orange tip, is a butterfly in the family Pieridae, which contains 1,100 species of butterfly."_

 _A middle-aged male with brown hair was sat down on a recliner seat with a book about butterflies in hand and with his younger daughter sat on his lap._

" _I've never seen them before." She traces her index finger on the picture of the butterfly that had its signature orange pigmentation on its wings and the rest was a pale blue._

" _The males are commonly seen the edges of the forests, like where we live, and the females are frequently seen in meadows." He pointed this out as the young auburn haired girl exclaimed in surprise._

 _She leans back and raises her gaze towards her father. "Can we see the butterflies, dad plea-a-a-se?"_

 _The male chuckled and closes the book and then sets it aside on a small table to his left. "Sure, why not?"_

 _She exclaims in excitement and jumps off of his laps and then grabs his hand, pulling him with all her might. He laughs at his daughter's attempts at dragging him out of his study room; it was amusing to watch her pull on his fingers while at the same time guiding him out of the house._

" _Hold on there, Lucy! I forgot my camera!"_

 _She pivoted with an eager glint in her violet/blue eyes. "Hurry! I want us to see the butterflies before they disappear!"_

-x-

A person's hand suddenly waves in front of her face. She instantly blinks a couple of times and then stares down to see Rikona standing in front of her. "You were staring off into space aren't you?" she asks in between laughs which made Lucy smile sheepishly at her.

Rikona turns around then looks over her shoulder. "I'm glad you took the time to come over here and take some books with you, Lucy. I hate to let these wonderful books to go to waste."

Lucy smiles and lets out a small laugh. "Well, I'm happy you contacted me then. You know how much I love reading anything I can get my hands on."

She watches as Rikona walks away and disappears from her line of sight. Lucy lowers her gaze at the book in her hands; it was a book about butterflies and moths. A faint smile appears on her lips; she's reminded of the memories that were hidden away inside her mind and stares at the book with such fondness.

The sound of her phone ringing snapped her back to reality; she reaches down into her back pocket and answers it. Ratchets voice can be heard from the end of the line and the tone of his voice sounded frantic and he was speaking fast.

"Whoa - - whoa - - slow down Ratchet! What happened?" She listened intently to his brief explanation. "All right, I'll be there in a jiffy."

Lucy grabs the box filled with books and bids Rikona farewell before hurrying to her house. She swiftly hopped in her car and drove straight towards the Autobot base. Upon arrival, she was absolutely mortified to see Optimus, Bulkhead, Bumblebee, and Arcee were all huddled together in the med bay - - frozen like statues.

"What happened to them?" She shuts the door of her car and approaches the three teens.

Ratchet turns his helm to look at her. "Stasis Lock. They're alive…to simply put it, in human terms, they're in sleep mode but are unaware of their surrounding until something or something wakes them up." Lucy exclaims in surprise with her mouth shaped like an 'O'.

"The 'cons are crossing the Atlantic, making a beeline for North America." Agent Fowler noted approaching behind the monitor Ratchet was currently using.

"Wait. We can track them?" Jack and Lucy said in unison and then exchanged glances at one another.

"Why aren't they cloaked, like usual?" Rafael asks with a raised brow.

"None of this makes a lick of sense. They had us in the crosshairs, but the 'cons just took off." Agent Fowler said and then Miko chimed in.

"They even bailed on that spark extractor thingy."

Jack thinks for a moment and then he gets an idea. "Well, if the ship isn't cloaked, maybe the communication relay's are open, and - -"

"Yep, Yep. Are you suggesting that we should just _call_ Megatron and ask him what's happening up there?!" Ratchet questions Jack's logic, and then receives a shrug from the four of them as if they were saying ''Why not?''

He turns his helm towards Agent Fowler, and he too shrugs in response.

"I mean- -" Ratchet turns his head around and his optics drifted down to Lucy. "It wouldn't hurt to try, you know?"

Ratchet sighs deeply and complied with their request and contacted the warship. There was no response at first and so, he attempted again except this time instead of Megatron answering the call it was a deep and guttural voice that responded.

" **Megatron has been relieved of his command."**

"Who is this?" Ratchet asked.

The voice repeated his question. **"Who is** _ **this?!**_ **"**

"Have you taken control of the decepticon vessel?" Ratchet once again questioned the stranger and the answer he got was a surprising one.

" **I** _ **am**_ **the vessel! Any Cybertronian who interferes with my mission will be neutralized."** It said as it began to broadcast a live feed inside the warship on their monitors, showing them various decepticons in stasis lock throughout the corridors of the ship. It looked like a scene from a horror movie but without the blood.

Ratchet furrowed his brow-ridges together. "What mission?"

" **Priority one - - decrypt iacon database and recover decepticon technology."**

"For what purpose?" He asked again but this time it didn't answer…and then it hung up.

"It hung up? Rude." Miko folds her arms in front of her chest and this somehow triggered Agent Fowler.

He stares down at Miko. "Rude?! There's a giant spaceship flying around collecting decepticon weapons of mass destruction!"

Jack blinks a few times before gaining his voice. "Wha - - a giant spaceship filled with neutralized decepticons." Agent Fowler urged him to get straight to the point. "This could be our only chance to slip aboard the ship and download the iacon database."

"So Optimus can decode it," Rafael remarked and then everyone turned their heads to Ratchet.

"Ingenious. I will infiltrate the decepticon warship." This was a terrible idea… on so many levels.

"Not ingenious." Jack expressed his disagreement towards Ratchets idea. "You saw what it did to the decepticons."

Lucy rests her hands on the railing and shares her thoughts about the situation. "And if you were to infiltrate the warship chances are that you would be in the same predicament like them."

"And probably Megatron, too," Rafael added and Miko followed suit.

"And Team Prime."

"But that tub had me dead to rights, and I'm still breathing." Agent Fowler said in relief.

Jack ponders for a bit until realization finally hits him. "The ship may be blind to humans."

Ratchet exchanges a questionable look down at them. He was contemplating whether to allow or not allow them to go through with the plan. His optics landed on Fowler and was slightly hesitant to say it…but he said it anyway.

"Very well, Agent Fowler. But at the first sign of trouble, I am bridging you right back here."

"Now, in order to download the database, you will need a compatible transfer drive." Ratchet hands over a giant pen drive to Agent Fowler.

"A what?" Agent Fowler stares at the large pen drive with a confused look on his face.

"He'll also need tech support." Rafael stepped forward and then Miko joined in on the plan along with Jack and Lucy.

-x-

Fowler, the kids, and Lucy GroundBridge on board the ship and were now walking down the corridors of the Decepticon warship.

The ship was much dimmer than the Autobot base and larger too. So she made sure to stick around with the group, not wanting to get lost along the way. It would be an absolute nightmare if she did get lost…well, she would've had a hard time finding the exit.

They soon find the console right around the corner and Rafael was the one to point out the presence of the console. His voice sounded rather nervous at something and with good reason. Slumped over the control panel was a 21ft - bright red Decepticon, but the mech stood absolutely still; not even acknowledging their presence.

Miko approached the mech and proceeded to pound on his leg before saying. "Doc knock is knocked out."

"Look." Rafael points up at the screen. "The ship's decoded two sets of iacon coordinates."

They all look up at the screen – it beeps – revealing the third set of coordinates.

"Three!" Raf turns to Fowler. "Let's rip and run."

Agent Fowler and Rafael were the first to clamber their way up on Knockout while the other three stayed below. Rafael then points at the port where Fowler plugs in the transfer drive Ratchet gave them.

The screen beeps and this caught Jack and Lucy's attention. They turned their heads to the left where a lone screen/monitor was located and they both noticed the location of the first iacon relic/artifact.

"Um, why is the warship heading for Manhattan?" Jack points this out and then the others were now staring up at the screen.

"Because that's where the first set of coordinates are located," Rafael said as he adjusted his glasses.

Agent Fowler contacts Ratchet, asking him about the cybertronian relic and what was it doing there. Ratchet simply stated that the relics had landed on earth eons ago, long before the city was built atop it.

Then Jack makes a chilling revelation of the situation. "Which means if the ship wants this one…it may have to move some buildings out of the way."

This wasn't good at all.

Agent Fowler furrowed/knitted his brows together with a displeased frown on his lips. "Our mission just got complicated. How do we deter this ship?" he asks through the earpiece, not noticing the other three had clambered up and were now standing behind him.

Ratchet advised him in disabling the navigation module, so he did that and was instantly electrocuted into unconsciousness. They watched him in horror as he stumbled backward before falling. Luckily, Lucy's quick-witted actions, she managed to prevent Agent Fowler from the rough fall (using her psychic/telekinesis), he landed with only a gentle but loud thump on the way down.

She was grateful knowing that Fowler didn't receive serious injuries from the fall but she's exceptionally glad that none of them noticed; now that would've been extremely unfortunate.

To their luck, the ship began to scan for them but was unable to detect them because it was searching for Cybertronian-based life forms. Ratchet insisted to bring them back but Jack was against this, realizing that they have to do something about this now. With Ratchets guidance, they head straight towards the ship's power core, in hopes that it would de-activate the Nemesis.

The four of them arrive at their destination. The now slightly dim room was filled with energon cubes that were stacked up in each corner of the room. They walked with utmost caution as they now made their way through the available space between the energon cubes. However, on the other side, they were shocked to find a frozen Megatron right in front of them.

"Megatron had the same idea," Jack said as Rafael confirmed that they were, in fact, on the right track.

" _The energon injection valve can only be operated manually."_

"Manually?!" They all exclaimed in unison before turning their attention to the frozen Decepticon leader.

Jack was the first to approach and was now standing right in front of the mech's leg. "Give me a boost." Neither of them hesitated to lend him a hand as he now clambered his way up to the fuel injection valve.

The three of them watch as Jack attempts to push the valve only to grunt in frustration when it didn't budge. Just when things were going smoothly, a familiar voice echoed inside the room they were in.

Their heart sank to the bottom of their stomach.

" **I am infested with alien life-forms!"** _Bugger…_ the ship finally detected them; Lucy, Miko, and Raf.

"Uh-oh. We just got made." Miko said whilst the three of them were now staring up at a metallic claw-like arm with a single glowing red optic (eye).

Lucy turns to face Miko with an alarmed look on her face. "You think?"

Soon the manipulated arm came crashing down at them and they were quick to jump out of the way before they legged it. Miko and Raf ran back to hide among the energon cubes while Lucy went the opposite direction.

Lucy expected the manipulated arm to follow her instead of the others - - it didn't. Hearing Miko and Raf's yelp from afar made her stomach churn. She quickly turned around and headed straight towards them, seeing the arm move a couple of energon cubes to then reveal the two young teens. Lucy threw herself in front of them, using herself as a shield to protect them from the metallic arm.

"All parasites will be eradicated!" Before it could hurl itself at them, its attention was driven away by Jack (who successfully managed to attract its attention).

After Jack tricked the mechanical arm as it crashed into Megatron's frozen body. It began to topple over - - dragging the lever down with his body and successfully reversing the effects of dark energon from the ship. They all made a run for it when Megatron unfroze from his stasis lock. The effects were wearing off which means they had to get the transfer drive as quickly as possible.

They arrive back to the room and were relieved to see Agent Fowler wide awake–ish. He babbled nonsense before tumbling back down, poor Fowler.

The monitor above displayed on screen five sets of coordinates. Was that it?

"That's all that's been downloaded?!" Jack was expecting the list to be longer, yet the ship was only able to decode four.

"T-the iacon file must be huge!" Rafael said.

"I can't imagine how many items there are which could potentially be used against us…" Lucy swallows nervously at the thought of it. "Why can't they tone down the danger for once?"

There was a flash of green that appeared behind them; it was the GroundBridge. Miko and Rafael ran over to Fowler helping him go through the GroundBridge. Lucy turns to Jack.

"You should go. I'll be right behind you." He turns to her with an already worried look on his face.

"Lucy, you can't be serious. What if-" She cuts him off.

"I'll be fine." She places her hands on either side of his shoulders and gives him a reassuring smile. He hesitates for a moment but finally comes to understand her decision and then goes through the vortex. "Ok. Let's get this done quickly."

Lucy looks around and makes sure no one was around to see what she was about to do. She takes a few steps back before making a sudden dash - - making a miraculous, super jump onto the control panel. Lucy makes her way over to the transfer drive, with her back facing to the frozen decepticon (or so she thought). She began to pull at the drive out from the socket. When she was about to make one last pull there was a sound of metal swirling behind her.

 _Oh…bugger me._

She pivots around and was now face to face by (what the others refer to him) Knockout, fully online from stasis lock. There was a cheeky grin plastered on his face, this wasn't a good sign at all. She stumbles and falls on her bum.

He transforms his right hand into a mounted drill and slowly inches it towards her. "Say ahhh."

Then a familiar voice was heard from behind Knock Out. She caught a glimpse of the 'bot behind him and it was none other than Ratchet and he looked… angry. The look he had on his faceplates was scary…it scared her a little.

"I'm here to offer a second opinion." Ratchet then proceeds to clobber Knock Out and this left Lucy completely speechless. He then scoops her gently on to his servo - - takes the transfer drive with him before running through the vortex.

They arrive safely back to base and Ratchet had placed her near between the crook of his neck and his shoulder which she took as a comforting gesture from him. She simply just sat there in silence and listens intently while Ratchet began to inform the rest of the team of the good news about the data they retrieved.

"Then we must act quickly for Megatron possesses the same four sets. And he will not hesitate to obtain the potential doomsday devices which lie at the site of each." Optimus said then turns to face the rest of the group. "If we are to have any hope of recovering the iacon relics before the decepticons do—we must divide our resources." He suggests this idea to which Ratchet expresses his concern about it.

"But Optimus, when it comes to numbers we are already at a great disadvantage." He said in dismay. Optimus turns his helm towards the field medic.

"Under the circumstances; swiftness of action is paramount. This is one race that we absolutely cannot afford to lose." Optimus affirmed.

They all soon came to realize that the warship has moved away from its course (to Manhattan) and it's most likely headed to the second sets of coordinates. Optimus assigns Arcee and Bumblebee at the site in New York to scout beneath its streets for the relic. Somehow in the midst of this, Jack and Miko volunteered, and convinced Optimus of their usefulness (which successfully worked) and were sent out to New York.

It was a race against the clock to arrive at the locations and successfully retrieve the relics before the decepticons get there; four of them which are displayed on the monitor.

To Be Continued…


	13. Thirteen: Triage

Immediately after Bulkhead's departure—Rafael had begun to prepare the third set of coordinates. Optimus had announced that he would be heading for the Antarctic.

Optimus turns to Ratchet. "As for you old friend, I would prefer that you have company on your mission."

"No one is left to join me Optimus, even if Agent Fowler were alert." They looked over to where Agent Fowler was. He was laid down on a gurney and was mumbling incoherent words in his sleep.

"He's human." Ratchet pointed this out although Optimus had a different thing in mind.

"I was considering the only remaining Autobot alternative on this planet." Ratchet had lost his train of thought before Prime's words had finally sunken in.

"You can't be serious? Wheeljack is insubordinate—a Ruffian! Besides he's Bulkheads partner." Ratchet said. Just from the tone of his voice, he didn't seem to look forward in partnering up with Wheeljack.

"Your expertise is scientific but Wheeljack is a highly capable warrior—you would be wise to welcome the temporary alliance." Optimus brought the argument to an agreement whether Ratchet approved of it or not.

Ratchet held where the bridge of his nose was supposed to be, then sighs in utter defeat. Agreeing with something or not—Optimus always has a way with words.

"Umm…mind if I interrupt the conversation?" Lucy said as she now gained both of their attention. "Would it be all right if I accompany Ratchet?"

Ratchet was completely against it, acting like a worried parent to their child. He even tried to persuade her in staying behind to ''help'' work the Ground Bridge with Rafael. However, Lucy—unfazed, was adamant in going with Ratchet on his mission.

"I do appreciate the idea Ratchet but I'm no good with Cybertronian technology. Besides…" Lucy turns her head towards Optimus. "If Jack and Miko can accompany Arcee and Bumblebee on their mission, then why can't I? I mean, I did have my fair share of Decepticon encounters—and MECH."

She did make a valid point.

If he were to approve of her to accompany with Ratchet, it would mean that she would be a target for the Decepticons'. Yet, she won't be alone on this mission. Optimus couldn't help but feel rather conflicted from this. Who wouldn't? Lucy was only human after all—a human that is dear to him; then again, she has proven herself to them. She's capable enough to be vigilant and careful in the direst of situations.

After pondering for what seemed to be the longest time, he had finally come to a decision. "Very well."

Optimus turns and heads towards the Ground Bridge that was waiting for him. Then for some reason, he abruptly stops. He stood there for a moment—looking almost hesitant to leave, and then he resumed his walk through the vortex.

Underneath the fabric of her yellow (Munsell)—long-sleeved, pullover sweatshirt was her necklace. It suddenly was emitting heat when Optimus disappeared through the Ground Bridge. Lucy had her hand over her chest, feeling the warmth of the necklace through the fabric.

 _Strange…_ the necklace has only done this a few times and by ''few'' it was rather rare for this to happen. Why would it react like this suddenly?

-x-

The wrecker had received a message from the prime informing him about five Iacon relics which could potentially be used as weapons of mass destruction by the Decepticons'. Now here he was waiting for Ratchet to arrive—out in a wooded area.

Wheeljack was leaned against his ship whilst repeatedly throwing and catching his grenade, waiting. That is until he heard the Ground Bridge swirling open to his left. Wheeljack turns to see Ratchet walking towards him and he notices that he was accompanied by a familiar femme on his shoulder.

Immediately the first thing that went through his mind was: Why did Ratchet have Lucy on his shoulder? Never has he ever seen Ratchet with a human on his shoulder—that he knows of. It was such a strange sight to see, but he brushed it off quickly.

"It's been awhile. What brings you here on this mission?" Wheeljack asks. His optics directed at Lucy.

"I volunteered, of course!" Lucy swayed her head from side to side with a content smile on her face.

Wheeljack raised his brow-ridge (eyebrow) suspiciously. He glances over to Ratchet and notices a look of disapproval and…frustration? Someone doesn't seem so happy that she was here. What he didn't know is that Ratchet was mentally going insane with Lucy being here. After all, she was human and could easily get hurt—or worse.

"So," He turns his gaze at Ratchet. "The boss thought you needed back up, huh?" He smiles almost cheekily, and this didn't sit well with Ratchet.

"If you must know Optimus feels strongly that you require supervision." Ratchet corrected as he, bitterly, points his index digit (finger) at the wrecker almost aggressively before walking away.

Wheeljack found his response entertaining and decided to have a little bit of fun. "I'll sure to be at my best behavior, Doc."

Ratchet abruptly stops and turns halfway to look over his shoulder pad. "Please don't call me Doc." Ratchet said then turns to resume his walk.

"Whatever you say, sunshine."

Once again, Ratchet came to a complete stop. He was beyond annoyed now. He was opening and closing his hands as he lets out a groan while at the same time shaking his head. He could hear Lucy's failed attempts at suppressing her laughter. This made him feel bitterer than he already was.

They soon boarded Wheeljacks ship and then they took off. Then the silence that followed, it lasted for a while inside the cockpit as they were cruising across the sky.

Wheeljack glances over to Ratchet. "So, all of team primes busy chasing down these four iacon relics?"

"The four which are currently in play." Ratchet said.

"There's more?" Wheeljack quizzically asks.

"Megatron maintains possession of the entire iacon database. We have yet to learn how many more relics or Decepticon weapons of mass destruction it contains." Ratchet clarified to Wheeljack.

"No worries, Doc, I got your back." Everything he said was genuine until he added **that** nickname he had given to Ratchet. This easily annoyed Ratchet.

He gritted his denta (teeth) and a growl escaped from his lips. "My name is not Doc! And I do not require anyone watching my back. I proved my mettle during the war for Cybertron." Ratchet proudly said.

"Then I'm lucky you're along for the ride, champ," Wheeljack said. His optics (eyes) were staring at the monitor on his left, a single red dot had appeared—beeping continuously.

Wheeljack looks over to them from the corner of his optics (eye). "Cause we got a bogey on our tail."

The monitor then changed into a live feed from the back of the ship; it showed a purple MQ-9 Reaper. She didn't recognize who this Decepticon jet was, that is until Ratchet said his name.

"Soundwave!" A familiar name that the kids often mention (mostly Miko).

Wheeljack looks over to Ratchet. "Megatron's communications chief?"

"He must be tracking the same coordinates." Ratchet summed up just before the Decepticon had begun to open fire at them.

"You might want to grab onto something!"

Before they could even react Wheeljack had already shifted the wheel upwards making the ship flip backward. For a moment, Lucy was floating in midair and then she was suddenly overwhelmed with fear for a split second, she had to act quickly. While Ratchet was busy yelling at Wheeljack, Lucy was on the ceiling before swiftly pushing herself back down and on to Ratchet. Instead of being on his shoulder she decided to be near the crook of his neck. She didn't want to be separated from him unless she wanted to bounce around the cabin like a ragdoll, it is best if she hung tight for now until all this excitement was over.

-x-

The entire ride was one hell of a nerve-racking experience and the landing wasn't so pleasant either. The ship crashed landed after Laserbeak shot the right thruster of the ship. It was an unfortunate set back but at least they came out of the wreckage unharmed and most importantly alive.

"If you had pursuit Soundwave as I instructed." Ratchet said.

Wheeljack turns to face him. "His little birdie would still be pecking at our tailpipes!" he retorts sharply.

He was right, and Ratchet simply couldn't argue with that. "Well...we need to resume our search for the relic immediately—Soundwave may already have reached it."

"The Jackhammer is not going anywhere." Wheeljack walks past Ratchet and looks over his shoulder at him. "If you wanna catch that Con, we need to roll." he stops, his optics (eyes) staring off and notices something twitching in the distance, not too far where his ship was.

Wheeljack proceeds to walk towards it, ignoring Ratchet's complaints.

"Make up your mind! Are we walking or are we driving?!"

Ratchet felt a light touch on the side of his neck. He glances down to meet Lucy's eyes. "Look at where he's heading," she said, pointing her index finger over to where Wheeljack was heading.

He obliges, following to where she was pointing at and inches closer towards the wrecker. Wheeljack had drawn both swords and was aiming at a drone, not just any drone: it was Laserbeak. Ratchet, alarmed by the site, immediately took a defensive stance and assuring that Lucy wasn't in the line of sight for the drone to see.

"Wheeljack keep your distance, Laserbeak is the eyes and ears of Soundwave!" Ratchet warned and watches as Wheeljack uses one of his swords to swiftly flip the drone, its backside was exposed showing off its Decepticon insignia.

A smirk graces his lips. "Not anymore it isn't."

If what Wheeljack said was true, then this meant that he had to go over there and confirm this notion himself. Ratchet carefully places Lucy down; he didn't want her to go near that thing even if it was offline. Safety was his main priority. He couldn't even imagine her getting hurt because of his negligence; it made his insides churn uncomfortably at the thought.

Ratchet scanned the fallen drone with the remote scanner. "Operating system appears functional but offline." He looks over to Wheeljack. "However, the crash clearly damaged its optic (eye) and audio receptors' (ears)."

"I guess someone's gonna need a new snitch," Wheeljack said, as he now hovers over Laserbeak.

"A minor victory and not the one we are here to achieve." Ratchet turns, his optics drifting towards Lucy and then proceeds to go over to her.

When he was halfway over to his destination, Wheeljack had called out to him making him stop in his tracks.

"Hang on there Doc."

Oh, how he despised that nickname. He groaned in displeasure, but he maintains his urge to whack the wrecker upside the head with his dactylas (hand). Ratchet turns to face him and was all ears to whatever Wheeljack had to say.

"Situations right for an old wrecker trick," Wheeljack said whilst hinting the idea more as he held a grenade in hand, to which he threw it up in the air and caught it.

Ratchet—oblivious, didn't quite get the idea that was being hinted. "Um...I'm not sure I follow."

-x-

She watched from where she stood as Wheeljack transformed and drove off, presumably to find the relic. Let's just hope that Soundwave hadn't done so already and if so then they'd be at a great disadvantage. However, she notices that Ratchet stayed behind, and he was working on something at the fallen drone.

Should she go over there and check up on him? But Ratchet told her to stay where she was, away from the thing as possible. She couldn't come to a decision, and then she overheard a noise where Ratchet was and another behind her.

A sudden gust blew right towards her, causing her hair to fly all over the place. Naturally, she turns to face the wind to prevent her hair from blinding her. What she did not expect was a metal panel from the Jackhammer to come hurling towards her, missing her precious head by mere inches away.

Ratchet turns to see what the commotion was all about and was horrified to see a piece of the metal embedded on the ground, that wasn't there before, was inches away from Lucy. She just stood there frozen in her place looking just as shocked as he was.

A wave of relief washes over her and she exhales deeply. She blinks, noticing something floating around her. She reaches out, grabbing it from the air and inspects it. It was a piece of her hair... and her head feels a lot lighter too. She was either lucky or the world was simply playing a cruel joke on her.

"Are you all right?" Ratchet's voice managed to snap her out of the trance she was in, and her gaze meets his.

She simply nods in response before dusting away the residue hair from her clothes. At the same time checking if she was alive. "Um...Ratchet?" Lucy looks over to him with a nervous smile.

"Do you mind if I join you? I-uh, don't like being out in the open like this." Ratchet gave her a nod of approval and watches as she hurries over and hides behind a boulder.

He resumes his focus on to Laserbeak, which he's been holding down while at the same time glancing over to the remote scanner. "Rafael, what is our progress?"

" _Fifty percent."_

Just a little longer and the progress would be complete when he received a commlink from Wheeljack.

" _Doc."_

"Wheeljack I told you not to call me that!" Ratchet said in annoyance. Would it kill him to at least call him by his REAL name instead of _that_?

" _I'm sorry..."_

Wheeljack apologizing? Something was definitely off. "What's wrong—where are you?"

At the end of the line, he could hear Wheeljack groaning—he's hurt. _"Thinking you got maybe...ugh, two minutes."_ was all he said before going silent.

It was a race against time, Soundwave was inching closer to them and the virus was still uploading. He tried contacting the wrecker with little to no success; he must have fallen unconscious after warning him about Soundwave. While the virus was still uploading, Ratchet took the chance to hide behind the boulder; the same one Lucy was at. He made sure to hold down Laserbeak with one hand while holding the remote scanner with the other.

His prayers had been answered when Raf suddenly announced that the upload was complete. Ratchet pressed the button in the middle of the remote with his thumb which caused the two metal plates to close. He lets it go only to watch it struggle to fly, a small portion of its wings breaks as it moves away from them. It flaps its wings before going limp. It was like watching a puppy run but it tripped on something along the way and did a barrel roll; they almost felt sorry for the drone.

Right on cue, Soundwave had arrived at the scene and was now investigating the Jackhammer. It was her first-time seeing Soundwave in person, and he looked exactly what the others have described. A screen for a face - a slender figure with long thin fingers - aside from Megatron, this is a Decepticon she wouldn't want to cross paths with.

After plenty of tense moments and Ratchet was practically engulfing her small figure into his hands, as his life depended on it. Soundwave had finally left with Laserbeak along with the relic, unfortunately.

Ratchet revealed himself from behind his hiding place and tries to contact Wheeljack again, still no response. He curses under his breath before his optics looks down at Lucy. He gestured his index finger downwards.

"Stay. Here. I'll be back momentarily." before she could even interject, he transforms and drives off.

She huffs and then pursed her lips. _I hate being alone in the forest_.

Lucy walks over to the ship and then settles herself down with her back against the metal of the ship. She just sat there with her legs crossed, silently admiring the night sky while waiting for them to arrive.

Unknowingly, she brushed her fingers against her freshly cut hair, combing it down and was careful not to yank out a knot in her hair. Thankfully there weren't any knots in the way, so her fingers brushed down the strands with ease. It felt smoother and much lighter than before, it felt nice. Her knee-length hair (or more) now reaches down to her armpits; it had some split ends caused by friction from the piece of metal that literally sliced her hair, leaving it in a tousled mess. At least it wasn't her head that it sliced.

Distracting herself was a nice way to pass the time. Before she knew it, Ratchet and Wheeljack had returned. She stood up, brushing off some dirt from her pants before walking over to Ratchet.

"Listen, Wheeljack. I want to...thank you for your back up."

"Yup." was all Wheeljack said while he occupied himself in repairing his ship.

The familiar sounds of the Ground Bridge were like music to their ears. Ratchet then kneels to pick her up then stood upright and carefully places her on his shoulder. He turns and proceeds to walk towards the Ground Bridge.

"See you around..." Wheeljack looks over his shoulder. "Ratchet."

Nothing was said, but as the saying goes: action speaks louder than words. Whatever happened to Ratchet he might have finally acknowledged the wrecker as a useful aspect to the team. He might have come to forge a mutual respect for Wheeljack. Although, he would never openly admit this, the way he looked spoke louder than words.

They arrived back at base; Ratchet was instantly called over by Rafael. Ratchet approaches the monitors and saw that it was busy downloading...

"The iacon database!?" He couldn't believe his optics (eyes). It worked...it was downloading!

"It's downloading into our mainframe!" Rafael turns to face them with a look of pure joy.

Ratchet laughs. "Rafael. You. Are. A. Genius!"

Even they did lose the relic from Soundwave, but they have gained something far more valuable. It was hard work that paid off in the end.

Although, Agent Fowler seemed on edge and told them off rather sharply. Odd.

It's been a couple minutes since their return and the rest of the team still wasn't back yet from their mission. All they could do was wait and hope for the best. Yet, she was practically on the edge of the couch, anxiously waiting for their return. She's been compulsively shaking her leg and was glancing around the base instead of Ground Bridge.

She tried to reassure herself, telling herself that everything would be ok. Yet there was this nagging feeling on the back of her mind that she simply could not shake off. A feeling she didn't welcome at all.

"Raf, open the bridge now!" Agent Fowler ordered as the young boy was tapping away at his laptop.

 _Something wasn't right_.

"Bulkhead is coming through Agent Fowler," Rafael announced.

 _Why is she seeing this suddenly?_

"I can't wait to share the news!" Ratchet said excitingly.

A scene was playing right before her and saw it all in a matter of seconds. An Insecticon was crawling out of a hole where lava flowed below. It screeches - - taking aim and fired. Soon the scene fades out and she was welcomed back by the main room of the base. Then -

 **BANG!**

Instantly, she shot up from the couch and turns her head to look over where the sound came from. There was black smoke coming from the middle of the room, she inches closer. She saw Bulkhead sprawled on the floor—unconscious.

She threw both hands over her mouth, stifling a gasp from being heard. The rhythm of her heart quickened, and she could hear it with absolute clarity as it pounded in her eardrums. The color of the smoke - the scene she witnesses not long after his return - a feeling that was awfully familiar to her. It reminded her of that forsaken day.

There were tears now streaming down her face, her inaudible cries were disregarded by the others. A feeling of emptiness and pain washing over her as it greeted her like an old friend.

* * *

 _ **A/N**_

 _This semester of college has been really eating me, and the stress was a lot to handle and was getting worse. I had a mental breakdown. It was awful guys. I still feel like absolute poop but I'm doing better (thankfully.) I've had wonderful people to help me through this tough time._

 _Enough about me!_

 _I literally sacrificed myself for two days just to proofread the entire chapter then rechecked 'til I was satisfied! There's a lot more to come, but for now, let's all wonder and theorize. Until next time~ c:_


	14. Fourteen: Fate in Question

The smell of caffeine dulled her senses; her eyes were fixated on the table in front of her. The steam from the coffee grace against her face as if it was persuading her to wake up from her trance. A yawn escapes her lips, rubbing her eyes with the insides of her palms, and then she took a sip of her coffee. It tasted bitter, but it also had a hint of vanilla flavoring to it. It was her only source of warmth inside these cold hospital walls.

None of her coworkers resided inside the break room—alone. She didn't mind at all - she's used to it. It reminded her of when she used to work at the Library with Rikona. The atmosphere was calming which was the opposite of working in a hospital.

The nurses are the busiest and are always tending to the care of patients before informing the doctors, such as her, about any problems that could occur. There are times when paramedics would come by and drop off patients who are injured, ill, etc. And there are some occasions where volunteers would help around the building. Interns and medical students are always seen around the halls. These are just everyday tasks that go around inside this building.

She took another sip of her coffee, leaving nothing behind other than the foam that had stained itself inside the rim of the cup. The taste lingered in her mouth, but this was nothing compared to what she's been feeling. She felt exhausted, not just physically but emotionally as well.

Then the jingle of her phone caught her attention. Her eyes drifted down to the table where her phone was, she swiped the screen with her index finger. It was a message from Miko, it read:

 _Hey... You busy?_

She types in her reply: _Why? Is something on your mind?_

Two minutes went by when she received another message.

 _Do you think you can drop by at the base?_

She stood up from her seat, swinging her small grunge backpack over her shoulder. Then she threw away her coffee at a nearby trashcan. She exited the break room walking down the hallway while at the same time typing on her phone, she pressed send: _I'm on my way._ It was a brief message but enough to reassure the teen that she was coming.

Lucy hurried on out through the sliding doors of the entrance and walks over to her car. She hops inside, the engines roar to life as she drives out of the parking lot and heads down the road.

The journey towards the base was quiet, there was no music playing aside from the hum of the car when it was in motion, it's like you could have heard a pin drop. The gust of cold air from the ac was causing her fingers to go numb, and a tingling sensation like pins and needles would follow suit. This didn't bother her - - It was fine, she kept repeating these words to herself until she reached the base.

She closes the door to her vehicle before making her way up the steps. Her gaze drifted towards the empty couch, a quizzical look forming on her face. Where in the world is Miko? She pulls out her phone and right when she was about to press the call button, a voice called out to her. She perked up and looks over her shoulder towards the main monitors to see Optimus staring at her.

"I see that you've been keeping yourself busy." He commented, his optics studying her hospital uniform.

A smile graces her lips. She puts her phone away and approaches over the railing and was now standing beside Optimus. Not exactly at eye-level but it will have to do.

"I should be saying the exact same thing to you." Her eyes glance up at the screen then moves to meet his gaze. "Deciphering the iacon database isn't an easy task, per se. If it were me in your place, I would've been fast asleep with drool all over my face!"

The way she over exaggerated her sentence made Optimus look at her weirdly, it was a look that she had never seen him do before. Since he normally doesn't show much aside from smiling for a moment before it vanishes from his face, it was one of the few quirks that she enjoys about him. His facial expression to human notions never ceases to amaze her.

"So," she rests her forearms on top of the railing. "How are you doing in deciphering the iacon database lately—any progress?"

"Hardly." his eyes drifted up at the screen. "It's been rather difficult, especially with one of the files that we had retrieved from the warship."

Lucy perked up at this. "The one that we brought back from the warship?"

"Precisely." he glances over from the corner of his optic. "I've only managed to decipher one set out of the four that are missing."

"Wait a minute." she waves her hands in front of her. "Isn't it already decoded? The warship DID decode the file didn't it?"

"Indeed," he turns to face her completely. "But this file is unlike anything that I have ever encountered before. It seems to have a complex encryption underneath and the way it was encrypted it is making it much more difficult for me to decipher it."

Lucy hums thoughtfully before suddenly remembering why she came here. "Optimus, have you seen Miko? She contacted me a while ago to meet up with her here but... I can't find her anywhere. I was wondering if you knew where she was."

Optimus didn't take long to answer. "I assume that she is atop with Arcee."

"Atop?" she looks around before her eyes landed on the elevator and that's when she pointed her index finger at it. "You mean atop the plateau?"

She looks over her shoulder at him and he nods. She makes her way over at the elevator as the doors slide open. Right, when she was about to step inside Optimus's called out her name making her stop in her tracks. She turns to face Optimus.

"I've noticed that you look more fatigued than usual. How have you doing lately?"

She blinks. It took her a couple of seconds to recover and she smiles reassuringly at him. "Oh, it's nothing really! Attending patients' daily and organizing important files isn't easy. I appreciate your concern Optimus, it means a lot, but I'm fine."

Lucy steps inside the elevator, her smile unwavering until the doors slid shut. Once it did her smile vanishes, her eyes were cast down in a mournful gaze. A wave of regret instantly washes over her. She felt awful for lying to him, but she didn't want him to worry about her. After all, that's been happening about the iacon database it was best that she kept things to herself. It was for the best.

Upon reaching atop of the plateau she searches for Miko and finds her sitting close at the edge with Arcee by her side. It seems that Arcee had been comforting Miko in her absence. She didn't want to disturb them, so she left them alone. Miko got the comfort she needed and she's happy to know that.

Lucy looks over her shoulder. Her eyes taking one last glance at them before she walks away. Then a voice in the darkest corners of her mind hissed at her and asked her: _Why do you keep pushing them all away?_

-x-

It has been two days since her last visit at the base. As a result, Miko has been messaging her constantly and was telling her about Bulkhead's recovery. She was so glad to know that he was slowly getting better and was being told every little detail about his journey. In short, Miko was proud of her work in helping her friend get stronger.

At one point, Miko mentioned about a new Autobot recruit that recently arrived on earth. Miko went on to tell her about the bot –Smokescreen. Then she went on telling the recent events on how he assisted team prime when Starscream was about to steal red energon. Suddenly their talk was cut short when she announced through text that she had to go and help the bots.

Lucy hasn't gotten word from her for a while now; it must be something serious then. She places her phone on the small table before her as she rests her back against the couch. Her eyes look out the window that was behind the TV in front of her, it was dark out and she had just gotten back from the hospital not too long ago.

On her way over to her house was when Miko had begun messaging her. She learned how difficult it is to drive and text at the same time, it wasn't a good decision on her part but she's lucky that no other cars were on the road tonight. Otherwise, she would've ended up with a flipped car. What a wonderful scenario to think about on this lovely night.

She casually pulls a strand of her behind her ear and then reaches over the small table to pick up her cup of tea. She takes a small sip, feeling the warm fumes grace against her skin. It tasted sweet but salty at the same time. This was her favorite kind of tea; salted caramel. It wasn't overly sweet yet not overly bitter. The flavor was somewhere in between, and it wasn't overpowering for her palate.

While she was enjoying her evening tea when suddenly her phone began to vibrate. She leans over to see the screen, wondering who was calling her currently. It was an unknown number. At first, she wanted to just let it ring but she decided against it. So, she places her cup of tea on the table, picks up her phone and casually answers the unknown number.

"Hello?"

When the caller spoke her body instantly tenses up, she sat there—unmoving.

 _" **It's been a while since our last encounter, my dear."**_

"S-Silas!?"

 _" **You've grown. That's good. I'm genuinely surprised—years had gone by since that day—you've gotten stronger too."**_ he complimented.

Silas was probably referring to him witnessing her using her abilities out in the open when he was using Nemesis Prime. This was a grave error on her part.

She couldn't help but notice that his voice sounded more...robotic? Whatever he did to modify himself with didn't matter to her. She didn't know how the bloody hell he got her number but what mattered most was him calling her out of the blue.

"Listen here, Silas. You called me for a reason. So, stop stalling and get straight to the point." she gave a straightforward response. Her patience was running thin and she was already tired of listening to his blabbering.

 _" **Can't I have a little bit of fun? How rude of you. Didn't your parents teach you any manners?"**_

As soon as he brought up her parents into the conversation and it was like a match that had suddenly lit up inside of her. She didn't what came over her when all the fumes had escaped. She lashed out on him.

"You - don't you dare speak of them! You didn't know them..." She was livid now that she could've accidentally broken the phone from how tight she was holding it.

 _" **After all this time and you're still holding on to the past, huh? How pitiful."**_

"You don't know anything about my life. Stop acting like you know everything about me." She said, but her words fell onto deaf ears as he continued on with his ramble.

He chuckles. _**"Varvara's defensiveness – Erasmus calmness – Emily's seriousness—there's no doubt that you're their youngest daughter. I failed to discard you back then but seeing you as you are now—suffering over the course of the years."**_ he laughs half-heartedly. _**"It's such a gratifying feeling."**_

She couldn't breathe; it felt like someone was choking her. Her lips were quivering, and her heart was pounding. An icy feeling caused her to shiver as she gathered the strength to speak again and was jumbling her words from the shock.

" Wha... how... do you-" Silas interrupts her.

" _ **Let me ask you this—after all that's happened, have you ever questioned the fate of your beloved parents?"**_

There was a brief silence in which was then followed by him clicking his tongue in disappointment.

 _ **"What a shame... not knowing the truth of the tragedy."**_ suddenly he lets out a displeased groan before addressing to her. _**"I'd hate to cut our conversation short, but I have important matters to attend to. Do heed my advice, my dear. Good luck."**_ then the line cuts off.

The adrenaline in her system was going insane, making her heart beat faster and she was feeling squeamish. Her breathing had quickened, and it was getting shallow as the minutes went by. In a panic, she instantly got up and headed straight towards the kitchen.

She placed her phone on the kitchen counter and went over to the sink where she splashed water on her face. The urge was slowly fading, and her breathing had calmed down significantly but the uneasiness hadn't subsided. She looks over to her left, the phone only inches away, so she reaches for it. Now that her phone was in her grasp there were a couple of noticeable indentations where her fingers had gripped around the phone. Luckily, she had a hardcover on otherwise she would've literally crushed her phone. There are times where she has no control over her immense strength, it just happens whenever she is in distress or when she's overwhelmed. It's almost frightening.

She wasted no time and contacted the person that she needed the most.

-x-

He had underestimated the weather tonight, but it wasn't as cold as when he went to boot camp while snow was falling. It's been a while since he felt that kind of weather—no, having the ac cranked up doesn't count as weather...unless you're the weatherman, then good for you.

The chilly air tonight reminded him of how sensitive his skin had gotten over the years. Maybe he should visit Alaska more often although, he'll probably look like an overstuffed marshmallow.

Fowler pulls out his phone making sure that he was going in the right direction. It hadn't been long since Project Damocles was put to an end. He was ready to head back to base when he received a call from Lucy. It was a strange occurrence since she usually doesn't contact him as much, but he brushed it off and answered. Just hearing the tone of her voice from the end of the line, she was upset about something that she refused to say on the phone. She begged for him to come over immediately and he gave in quite easily.

He looks up from his phone as he now stood before a house made of mahogany wood. Fowler walks up the steps of the small front porch and approaches the front door. He knocks on the door and announces his presence through the door.

"Lucy? It's me Fowler." then he heard her voice from the other side of the door.

"It's open."

Fowler shows himself inside and then closes the door behind him. His gaze searches for her and he sees her in the kitchen with her arms folded in front of her chest. She looked tensed.

"What's got you so worked up? You wouldn't tell me through the pho-" he gets cut off by her saying these three words that made him go silent.

"Silas called me."

He was shocked beyond belief and the look in his eyes was almost the size of a quarter. This was serious than anticipated. Fowler slowly moves closer and stops, standing next to the dining table to his left.

"What did Silas say to you?" he asks.

At first, she was hesitant to say anything, but he waited patiently for her to reply. She opened her mouth, but she couldn't find her voice. It took her a bit before gathering enough courage to speak which she chokes out.

"He... mentioned my parents and he kept talking about... the incident..." she trails off and practically whispered the last part of the sentence.

Fowler asks again but in a more calming tone. "Do you have any idea as to why he would ask you about it?"

He read her files before and he is aware of how much this topic was sensitive to her. It was a painful subject even for him to think about.

"I don't know... I don't know..." her voice cracked at the end.

She covers her mouth with her hand while at the same time shaking her head. The feeling of grief slowly flooding within her was undeniable. She felt the lump in her throat increase and was holding it back. This caused her throat to ache uncontrollably; the feeling reminded her of acid being poured into her esophagus and she was drowning in it.

"He kept saying how... how I should've been dead..." she stops herself before taking in deep breaths. Fowler took this chance to finally speak.

"He won't hurt you, Lucy. I swear on my mother's grave that I will make sure he won't lay a finger on you." was his assured reply.

"No. That's... not it." She said while holding the bridge of her nose. "After what Silas said I-" she looks over to Fowler. "I'm starting to have second guesses."

Fowler lets out a sigh in disbelief. "Lucy, you can't be serious..."

"Fowler, you didn't hear what Silas said. He was acting as if he knew them, and he was bloody gloating about it!" Lucy argued forming her hands into fists before mumbling incoherently to herself.

"Silas has no remorse and practically feeds off of people's misfortune or worse—he's obsessive, cruel, you name it." Fowler made his point across. "Look - - what I'm trying to say is that you can't always believe whatever that bastard says."

Lucy looks fixedly at the floor, a shadow casting over her eyes. Fowler does prove a valid point there, but something was off. Silas wouldn't go out of his way just to speak with her and then talk about the incident. There was something more to that.

"This is going to sound really selfish... but Fowler." she raises her gaze at him. "Do you think you can look into the case?"

He wanted to disagree but stopped himself. He couldn't do it. There was a feeling in his gut that he just had to follow and the "what ifs" were taking over his thoughts. Fowler quickly gave in to her request and proceeded to ask.

"Ok, what is it that you want me to do?"

She wasted no time in replying. "Reopen the case and tell them that you received new information."

Lucy pulls out her phone with the screen facing him. On the screen was a voice recorder. This meant that she had the conversation prerecorded for this moment. She was prepared for the unexpected.

"Starting with Silas."

There wasn't much to be said after their private conversation with each other. At one point, Fowler had to leave to return to base, but she stops him in his tracks.

"Before you leave can you promise me something?"

He looks over his shoulder with a quizzical look on his face. "Depends on what you're asking."

"Promise me you won't tell the others about this, and that includes about the-" Fowler interjects her in mid-sentence.

"I know." he watches as her features relax. "But there will come a time when you'll have to tell them, you know that right?"

She shakes her head in agreement. "I'm well aware of that."

Fowler gives a content nod. "Have a good night, Lucy." he turns to head out the door but right as he opened the door, he heard her voice from behind him.

"Thank you."

He chuckles and looks over his shoulder. "Just doing my job, Miss Demetria." was all he had to say to lighten the mood before leaving.

* * *

 _ **A/N**_

 _ **Uuuu, more stuff to figure out while the Author is laughing maniacally in the background.**_

 _ **I'm giving you all a heads up, as of this chapter I will not be following the continuity of the show... for now. Because in the next two or three chapters they will be purely written by me. I'm still debating on how many chapters I have to write from here on. I'll figure something out.**_

 _ **╮(￣ω￣;)╭  
Well, have a nice day everyone! ~ c:**_


	15. Fifteen: Confrontation of the Damaged

Optimus has been struggling to decipher the last set of codes for a particular iacon file. He began working on the file at around six in the morning and it was now seven in the evening, it took him an entire day to decipher this file. Only one more set of codes and the file will be fully decoded.

His optics ( _eyes_ ) had never left the screen for almost the entire day and he was told off by Ratchet a couple of times. While he worked tirelessly to decode the file his mind was elsewhere, and his thoughts were about Lucy.

It's been three days since her last visit and last time he'd seen her, she looked worse for wear. Even when she reassured him it still didn't stop him from worrying. Him being preoccupied in decoding the iacon file that he wasn't able to get a chance to contact her. He knew how sensitive she could be and secretly hoped that she would understand the circumstances.

Optimus lets out a low groan, holding where the bridge of his nose would be—if he had one. He shouldn't be distracting himself, but it couldn't be helped. Three days of deciphering the code were wearing him down and he could feel his Dactylin ( _fingers_ ) aching from using them for long periods. Maybe it was time to call it a day.

As he was about to step away from the control something caught his eyes. He looks up at the monitors to see that the file - -fully decoded. He blinked a couple of times while his mind was trying to process what he was seeing.

Did he just decipher the iacon file without realizing it?

He opens the file where it reveals two pictures, it was a script of some kind, but it seemed like it was written in gibberish. The most boggling thing about it is that the script was written in parchment paper instead of giving them coordinates to search for a relic.

A set of footsteps can be heard approaching from behind him, but Optimus was too transfixed on the script to even notice the field medic.

"Any luck on deciphering the iacon file, Optimus?" his voice had snapped the Prime back into reality as he now turns to meet Ratchets gaze.

"The file has been decoded but..." Optimus looks up at the screen. "It would seem that we hit on yet another mystery on our hands."

Ratchet follows his gaze up at the monitors and then blinks. "What in the AllSparks' name is this? It's not even written in Cybertronian language!"

Optimus glances over to him. "I agree, old friend."

Their discussion on the iacon file had caught the attention of Rafael. He was just working on his homework when he couldn't help but listen in to the conversation about a file written in an incomprehensible language. So, he closes his laptop and carries it with him as he approaches the railing that was right above the large monitors.

Rafael curiously looks up at the screen and immediately knew what this script was. "This is written in Ogham," he said aloud, and the two bots chatter had instantly died down.

The boy turns around and realizes that Optimus and Ratchet where now staring at him with a look of utter shock. Rafael then rubs the back of his neck and lets out a nervous laugh.

"H-how can you be certain of this?" Ratchet asks.

"Oh. Umm, I made an oral report about it in History class." Rafael gestures up at the monitors. "This script is written in an ancient British alphabet from the Middle Ages and I had to learn the alphabets for the report."

They both exchange glances to one another and then they looked back at Rafael. He may be the youngest of the group, but Rafael has proven to be one of the most useful assets to the team. The young boy's intelligence never ceases to amaze them, and this was one of them.

"Rafael, do you think you can decipher what the script?" Optimus asked.

He hums in thought. "Sure! But it'll take me a bit."

"Do what you can," Optimus said.

Rafael takes a seat right by the human-scaled displays and begins to decipher the script from his laptop. He manages to finish decoding the script in seventeen minutes and then he reads over on what the script says. Since it was written in parchment paper almost half of the script was incomprehensible to read. This was probably due to how old the script was written and over time the letters had faded, making it hard and almost impossible to decipher.

"The script is decoded!" Rafael announces to the team as they now gathered around the main room.

With one final click of his keyboard, the script was up on the monitors, fully decoded. "Almost half of it was basically impossible to decipher but there were a couple of paragraphs that were easier than the rest. Plus, some of the words are missing in some of the sentences," he stated as his eyes were now fixated on the large monitors.

The script said the following:

 _My name is —of —, born on —._

— _was sent here to — amongst a — — — —. To study, observe, and to speak — — — — with them._

 _The— — of — very — is to — —._

 _The universe strives to maintain balance. That is — reason —y — here. — — foresee —s that will take place for millennials to come._

— — — — _, a power — — in form of an item from — creation. — contains the hues of the universe. This precious item marks the — of — soul that will someday — — — on a planet called Earth. A power pure enough to —t— —e, — raw energy capable to be used for the greater good of the universe._

A two-page long script, almost all the paragraphs were unreadable due to its age, but it was manageable nonetheless. The paragraphs that caught their immediate attention were the last paragraph on the second page: _a power — — in form of an item from — creation. — contains the hues of the universe. This precious item marks the — of — soul that will someday — — — on a planet called Earth. A power pure enough to —t— —e, — raw energy capable to be used for the greater good of the universe._

If the purpose of this said item is for one of these usages, and in the wrong hands it will have catastrophic consequences.

But there is no indication as to where this item could be located. For all they know it could be anywhere around the planet, it could be above ground, underground, underwater—anywhere. The most important question—what item is it?

-x-

The air inside the ship was crisp, and the lights were dim but enough to provide the necessary lighting. Heavy footsteps echoed throughout the dark halls of the warship and the noise itself was enough to make any Cybertronian tremble. The most feared gladiator of Cybertron and Autobots' alike, maybe the entire universe itself, it was Megatron.

His advances were intimidating, and his gaze could pierce through the sparks of many. He was upset for reasons revolving on the iacon database. He had received word from Soundwave _—_ who he had given the task of decoding the iacon database not long ago, had shown him a file that was encrypted that was decoded when the Nemesis took control, yet it was heavily encrypted for some odd reason. Only to find out that it was nothing more than a two-page long script that was written in absolute nonsense. He was not pleased by the findings and has been walking down the corridors of the ship _—_ fuming.

When he blinked, his surrounding looked different. There was a table filled with medical equipment and a monitor to the left and an operating table which was occupied. He was in the medical room. He had absentmindedly wandered down the corridors until reaching the room. There's no reason to be here. As he turned to walk out of the room he was stopped by his Doctor, Knockout.

"My Liege, what brings you here on this fine evening?" Knockout received an angry stare which made him flinch.

"That is none of your concerns, Knockout. I was merely passing by to check up on your... experiments." his voice lowered at the last part whilst glancing over at the medical bed.

Strapped down on the medical bed was Cylas and he was looking more fatigued since he last saw him. He doesn't look so bright... that's good. A smirk tugged its way at his lips and was beginning to feel the anger almost wash away from within. That is until his mood was quickly turned sour.

"I heard some wonderful news that Soundwave has decoded one of the iacon files."

Just when his anger was fading it was now ablaze once again. "Yes, wonderful news indeed, except-" he says sarcastically before he turns around and was now staring down at Knockout almost threateningly. "That the file is absolutely useless to us!" he roared anger slowly fueling his spark.

Knockout nearly jumped out of his skin by the sudden burst of anger from his leader. He moves aside and watches as Megatron walks straight past him as his master resumed his ramble.

"All of our hard work for nothing! A mere script written in obscure words! How unfortunate. Here I thought we had a great advantage over the Autobots'. Instead, we're on the complete opposite." he shook his head in disappointment.

However, Megatron's discussion didn't go unnoticed by Cylas. "I know the script... you speak of." he croaked out which caught the leaders attention.

Megatron wasn't expecting a reply especially from _him_ and was skeptical. "Tell me Cylas—what makes you think that whatever you claim to say about the script is true?"

"This script originated on Earth, not on your world. That's why it looks like nonsense to you." Cylas raised his head from the bed. "I know what the script says, and I know what it implies."

Megatron approaches the medical bed and leans over, his faceplates inches away from Cylas's. If what he said is true, then he will force out whatever he had to say about the script's contents. "Speak, if not then I will be more than happy to pry the contents right out from your head."

-x-

The only light source inside his office was a single lamp on his desk to his right. His desk was riddled with files that he has been reading almost the entire day. He had successfully got his hands on the documents revolving around Lucy's parents and had the former colonel bishop's top-secret documents that were stored away for who knows how long.

He stifled out a yawn and reaches over to grab his cup of coffee and takes a sip of it while reading one of the case files. Coffee was the only thing keeping him awake; caffeine was practically running through his veins at this moment. If not, he would have been passed out on his desk and would wake up with immense cramps from being in one position the entire night. He's getting too old for this maybe he should see a chiropractor one of these days.

As he placed his coffee down and moved his hand, he accidentally knocked over the cup and spilled coffee literally all over on one side of his desk. He cursed out loud as he stood up and began to rummage through the files. Luckily, none of the files were ruined, now that could've been a total nightmare. Although he did get coffee on his pants, it was only a few drops of it, nothing too damaging.

While he organizes his mess that's when a picture slips out from one of the files and falls on to the floor. He stops what he was doing as he bends down to pick it up. The picture was on its back when he picked it up before he stood upright. Just when he was about to place it back something about it caught his attention. He inspects the picture and in the photo was a family: in the front were two girls standing next to each other, both had auburn hair and the one on the right was much younger than the one on the left. The younger one is none other than Lucy with a necklace around her and was smiling directly at the camera. The older one had her arm around Lucy's shoulders, this was her sister Emily. Behind the girls were their parents, both were in their middle ages and were dressed casually in the photo, so were their daughters. The father, Erasmus had short brown hair, with glasses and had bright blue eyes and to his right was his wife. The mother, Varvara had bright red hair its hues resembling like the metal copper. Both standing close to each other and were staring happily at the camera.

A smile was tugging its way up to his lips. They all looked so happy back then, deep inside he wished that the incident had never happened. Maybe, just maybe they would've had the chance to live a long and happy life together. Yet, fate can take a turn for the worst—cruel. Now their existence is nothing more than a fragmented memory.

He'd been staring at the picture for a while now and he notices another person standing to Varvara's right. He couldn't believe what he was seeing; in the picture with the family was Silas. His hairs stood on end, and the pit of his stomach had churned rather uncomfortably.

This meant Silas had played a major role in the family's demise, it had to be! There was no other explanation to it...but why?

Fowler then begins to shuffle his way through the many files until he found the one. It was a secret file from the former Colonel Leland Bishop and begins to flip over the many pages. He stopped flipping the pages when it landed on to an item; it was a picture of a necklace the very same one that Lucy was wearing in the family photo. There was a note right next to it, but he didn't even bother to read it.

He wasted no time to grab his belongings before heading out the door of his office. He needs to inform this to her, so texted her and was going to meet her at the Autobot base.

-x-

The violent whirling of a helicopter could be heard as it landed right atop the plateau. Its wings slowing down this was followed by a loud hiss from the engines before going silent. He exits out the cockpit and made his way over to the elevator. The doors of the elevators slid open allowing him to step inside and press a button before they once again slid closed.

As he waited for the elevator doors to open, he has been going over on what he was going to say to her. Disclosing this vital piece from the case to her wasn't going to be easy. He doesn't know where to even begin! It was gnawing him from the inside and not a pleasant way. Then the elevator doors suddenly slid open and he steps out only to see the team discussing something, not even acknowledging his presence.

That was until he announces his presence. "What in the world is going on here, Prime?"

Optimus turns his head to meet Fowler's gaze, he wasn't expecting to see him here. "Agent Fowler? What brings you here on such short notice?"

Fowler briefly moved his gaze elsewhere before they landed on to the Prime. "Just wanted to check how things are, you know? Besides-" he approaches over the railing and rests his hands onto it. "What's all the commotion about?"

So, Optimus proceeds to explain the entire thing to him.

"Wait a minute-you're telling me that you decoded this an hour ago, yet you haven't figured out where or what this item could be?" Fowler was in utter disbelief. I mean, surely this couldn't be as hard as it is...right?

Ratchet was the one who decided to speak. "Agent Fowler, we're doing our best but it's not an easy task." he then adds. "This item could be referring to anything on this planet! And the only small piece of the clue it provided was its color." Ratchet said. His voice sounding a little peeved off and no one could blame him for it. A clue this small would make things harder for them to figure out.

Optimus suddenly spoke. "Such a vital piece of evidence yet not enough to discover what it truly is."

Essentially, they're unable to move forward like this. Who knew that small detail would cause them so much trouble? For all, they know the Decepticons' may have already solved the clue and we're currently searching for it.

An item that resembles the universe... what in the world could it be?

They were too preoccupied in their discussion that they failed to notice Rafael attempting to intervene in the conversation. It took him a while before eventually, he succeeded in gaining their attention.

"I'm not too sure... but I think I've seen those colors before from somewhere..." he trails off with his fingers underneath his chin.

He was fully expecting someone to say something, but no one said a word. From the weird looks, he was receiving it was like they were judging him. Did they think he was lying to them?

"I'm serious about this. I've seen those colors before!" he quickly defended himself, yet he still received unsure looks from them. He wasn't the type of person to lie, so why did they doubt him?

Rafael's gaze landed on to Optimus and has high hopes to explain himself to them. Optimus gave him a curt nod to which he was grateful and begins to explain himself.

"It mentions about this item over and over on how it resembles these colors and uh..." he was hesitant at first but gathers enough courage within himself to say the words. "By any chance, could this item happen to be a piece of jewelry?"

Everyone exclaims in unison, all except for Optimus and Fowler although the look of pure shock was enough said. However, they failed to acknowledge the concerned look on the boy's face before Jack suddenly spoke.

"I'll have to agree with Raf on this one," Jack said as he now stood right beside Agent Fowler. "It was created on Earth by a Cybertronian, so naturally they must've used Earth's materials to forge this item in the first place." he pointed this out then Ratchet intervened.

"Puh-lease... what makes you think it's - -"

Suddenly a familiar British voice interrupts his rant causing him to look over.

"Sorry...uh, did I just interrupt something important just now?"

They were so engrossed in their discussion that they didn't even hear her arrive.

Ratchet regained his composure before responding to her. "No actually... we were just in the middle of - - where on Earth did you get that?" Ratchet points his digit ( _finger_ ) to her which was directed to something hanging around her neck.

Lucy blinks for a moment before following where his digit ( _finger_ ) was pointing at. Then the realization hits her. "Oh, you mean my necklace?" her fingers grace on to the oval-shaped pendant. "I've always been wearing this."

She looks up to notice everyone's gaze was directed right at the necklace. Then her cheeks suddenly turned a red hue including the tips of her ears from embarrassment. She didn't understand what was going on and all this attention she was getting made her feel extremely self-conscious. She then covers up her necklace as if she were exposed.

She then stutters out. "C-can someone please tell me what in the bloody hell is going on? And why are you all so interested in my necklace suddenly?" she glances nervously at them.

Then Agent Fowler pulls her aside to explain what was currently happening. All this information he was telling her was overwhelming to comprehend but she silently acknowledges the situation. Although, when he mentioned this item that resembles the colors of the universe and Rafael suggesting that this item could be a piece of jewelry, every bit of color on her face had instantly vanished.

She swallows nervously with her hand still covering the necklace from view. "So... what you're saying is that this "item" it mentions could be... my necklace?" she asks. Her eyes landing on to Optimus to which he then responded.

"Indeed, but in order for us to truly know." Optimus then gestures his hand towards the field medic beside him. "With your consent, we would like to examine the piece of jewelry."

Appalled. She instinctively tightens her hold on the necklace. "W-what? Can't Ratchet just... scan it from here?"

All the bots shared the same confused expression. Her sudden change of approach raised many questions amongst the group.

Miko then approaches her, stands right behind her before speaking. "What's got you so worked up? Besides, it's just a necklace."

She should've used her words more carefully because, in the blink of an eye, Lucy had whipped her head around to meet her gaze looking very upset. "It's not JUST a necklace!" she spat defensively which made the girl flinch in utter shock and then staggers a couple of steps back.

No one has ever seen her react this way, especially over a mere piece of jewelry.

"I can't just... give it to you. This is all I have left from them..." she trails off with her eyes glued on to the floor to avoid their stares.

Whatever she was talking about had everyone scratching their heads. They didn't really comprehend what she meant, yet the only person who was genuinely aware of this was Agent Fowler.

He took a step forward, offering his hand to her to which she instinctively moved back. "Lucy, I know it's difficult for you but now is not the time to get so sentimental. All they ask for is to examine it for a moment."

"No." she mumbles whilst shaking her head dismissively.

"Lucy... please."

The overwhelming emotions were too much. It felt suffocating. A feeling began to stir from within, and she just couldn't take it anymore.

" **NO!** "

The result had caused the entire room to quake uncontrollably. All the lights and the monitors had begun to flicker. Pieces of equipment had fallen from their place with a loud clang as well as spare metal parts across the room. When the entire ruckus had finally calmed down the only noise that was heard was Lucy huffing.

Lucy was steeped in guilt. She kept her eyes shut and with her head hanging. She can hear the murmurs amongst the team and the guilt hadn't sat well inside her chest. What she had done she could not undo. Then Fowler spoke.

"Lucy?"

She took in a silent but deep breath before raising her head to meet his gaze. "I'm sorry." she then proceeds to outstretch her arm forward and Fowler was quick to notice her actions.

"Lucy don't - -" but he was a second too late.

With a swift and horizontal movement causes the entire room to be completely consumed by darkness. Suddenly, the sound of the Ground Bridge activating their attention was now drawn towards the now activated vortex. There she stood in front of the entrance of the Ground Bridge and they watched as she began to walk towards the vortex.

Nobody could react fast enough, except for the young scout. Bumblebee was quick on his feet and made a beeline for the Ground Bridge. However, as he got closer, he felt an invisible force push him back causing him to stagger and was absolutely perplexed for what just happened. Then this invisible force immediately began to reveal itself. There was a bright blue bubble that was blocking the entire entrance of the Ground Bridge.

It's almost impossible to go through it without causing some serious injuries. At this point, there wasn't much they could do to sway her out of it. They all stood there and watched as her silhouette finally disappears through the vortex.

* * *

 _ **(A/n)**_

 _ **I've been having a difficult time trying to find motivation in writing ever since I finished my finals. I wanted a break and occasionally work on the chapter, at a slow pace. Just a quick reminder this semester will be tough on me and it will slow down my progress on future chapters.**_

 _ **Hope do you all understand and may you all have a wonderful day.**_


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